The Crobat Chronicles: Rewritten - Part 1: Kanto
by J-The-Legend
Summary: Caught up in a mystery, new Pokemon Trainer Joe Green is given the task of caring for a Crobat that he found wandering abandoned outside of his home in Pallet Town. To uncover the mystery he and his new found friend will journey across the entire Kanto region. They could not have picked a worse time. A new band of Eco-Terrorists is rising from the ashes of the region's past.
1. Prologue

Midnight – the small, rural town of Pallet sits quietly and modestly upon the western edge of the Kanto region, between rolling hills, vast fields, dense forests and warm seas. A small collection of red-rooved houses clustered before one of the taller hills, a network of dirt paths interlinking the buildings. Upon that hill lies a larger building with a white spherical dome and a windmill that slowly turns throughout the day and night. Though it is only a small town, and home to only a few dozen people, it is a welcoming and comforting settlement, out of reach of industry and pollution and overpopulation. Few who visit the town ever have a bad word to say about it, and those who stay do so for life. So, in this respect, it is a fine place to raise a child and to start a new life.

That is what _he_ had done.

But he couldn't outrun the past forever. Soon or later it would catch up with him.

* * *

Through an open window came a chill night wind. It rustled the blue curtains and shook the picture frames of old memories and family members. The room's occupant was none the wiser to this newly entering chaos into their life. They was fast asleep, tucked under a warm blue blanked with their head upon a rotund but soft pillow. They shuffled slightly upon the bed, but did not wake.

Outside of their bedroom the wide fields outside of Pallet town stretched. Under the darkness of the new moon the grass plains were turned from verdant patches of life to eerie wastelands. During the day there would be livestock grazing there, but now there was nothing, not even the distant calling of nocturnal birds. The landscape was lifeless…

…except for one thing.

Upon a far off hill, in sight of the window but many miles from it, wandered something large and dark and lost. Hidden in the darkness of the night it made its way up the hillside, unsure of where it was or where it could go. Some things in this world are made to thrive in the dark, yet others are consumed by it, and although it ought to find comfort here the shadowed thing did not. It moved with a limp; an injury to its hind. It had been jumped only moments ago, and while the attackers had now disappeared it could not allow itself to relax. It was tired, in need of somewhere to sleep and recover.

A howl, or a call upon the wind. They were approaching again, returning to finish the job. In desperation the shadowed thing took off again, across the hillside, till it came to a stop beside a set of dense brambles. With no options left, it crawled into the bush, past the thorns and nettles, till it was covered by the foliage and hidden from sight. The pursuers passed by, unaware of its hiding place, and there the thing lay, injured and alone.

* * *

The sleeper woke up, cold sweat falling from their brow. They looked out the open window. The landscape beyond was silent, barren, lifeless. No sounds or sights, except for the gentle rustling of the wind and the faint glow of the stars. Relieved that the dream had not been real, the boy lay down and went back to sleep.


	2. Chapter 1 - The Unsure Boy

Dawn – the night had passed, only for the shadows to fade and the clouds to pass and allow the bright orange sun to coat the land. Drastic changes could occur in the quick span of twenty-four hours. Upon the fields sprouted the brightly coloured flowers of spring, rising up from the ground to face the sunlight. Birdsong filled the scene, drifting upon the wind and into the town. Upon that same wind was the smell of pollen from the fields and salt from the sea, creating a rich and memory-stirring scent.

It filled him with nostalgia… though he was not sure what for.

Upon the gravel patio outside of the farmhouse, lounging in a foldup metal chair, sat Joseph David Green, though Joe was what most people called him. He was little more than a boy, a young man at most, yet no one could have imagined the destiny he had. Up until now he had been a normal child, with a normal upbringing, normal hobbies and a relatively normal personality. How drastically all that would come to change.

He inhaled, letting the morning air hill his lung, and then exhaled. He did this every morning. It helped him wake up and prepare for the day. It was especially helpful when he'd had a night of sleep-depriving dreams. They did not happen every night, but more recently the dreams had been coming more frequent. Usually he couldn't remember them, only that he awoke in a panic in the middle of the night. He could only remember that they upset him, filled him with fear, and when he woke that same fear lingered on. In the mornings he had to calm himself down to avoid being overwhelmed by that fear, and sitting outside in front of the rising sun, breathing in the dawn air helped him do so.

The door to the front of the farmhouse opened inward. Through it leaned a man in his late forties. His greying black hair cut short fluttered slightly in the wind, and his silvery-brown eyes turned to the boy. Joe looked back at him as he heard the door open. His own longer, light brown hair was waving wildly in the breeze, and his bright blue eyes that had once been fixed upon the orange sky now turned towards the man.

"Been up long?" The man asked.

"No, Uncle Walker." Joe told him.

"Another bad dream?"

The boy nodded.

"Perhaps we should take you to see a doctor."

"It's not that bad." Joe said quickly.

His uncle hummed uncertainly.

"Okay. Well, if it gets worse you let me know, alright?"

"I will." Joe turned back towards the fields of flowers illuminated by the rising sun. "Do you need me to help you again today?"

"If you're up for it." His uncle said. "The eastern fields still need sewing, and someone has to help me carry Petal down there. She's not so good at walking by herself anymore."

"I'll be fine with that."

His uncle nodded, and went to close the door again and return inside. "You might want to get dressed first thought." He added, pausing with the door half closed.

Joe looked down. He was still wearing his green pyjamas, the ones he had slept in that vary night. Flustered and embarrassed, he shot out of the seat and hurried past his uncle, sprinting up the interior stairs that lead to his bedroom. He could hear his uncle laughing at him from behind.

In an awkward hurry Joe got changed into his usual clothes: a white, long sleeve shirt; beige coloured jeans with several rips around the ankles; a grey coloured hoodie with blue stripes down the shoulders, arms and sides; red and white laced trainer shoes and, as a finishing touch, a crimson coloured cap with black detail. Once he was dressed he hurried back downstairs, where the smell of his uncle cooking bacon was enticing him.

A plate had already been set out for him, the slices of sizzled pork lying upon a soft brioche bun. Joe could feel his stomach expand. He grabbed a bottle of tomato sauce from the fridge and coated the bacon sandwich with the thick liquid. Though Walker Green was not the most capable cook in Kanto, or possibly even the world, he usually managed to put together something tasty when he tried.

"Thank you, Uncle Walker." Joe said, sliding down from the stool and leaving the raised table with an empty plate and a full stomach.

"I hope you've got the energy to get some work done now." His uncle told him, looking up from a newspaper. Joe caught a glimpse of the heading before his uncle slid the page over. It read _'Activists Attack Power Plant: after several public protests for greener energy sources, the Kanto Power Plant comes under physical attack from a group of radical activists. Little is known about the group as of yet, though staff who were working at the plant when it was attacked claim that the gang referred to themselves as Team-' _His uncle put the paper down and stood up. "Are you ready to get going?"

"Yeah." Joe said with little enthusiasm. Though he was feeling better after having breakfast, something in his mind felt a little off. Perhaps it was the dream, though if that was still upsetting him he couldn't remember why.

His uncle had noticed this. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine." Joe insisted.

His uncle shrugged. "Well, if you're sure. Come on, it's going to take us a while to get her moving." He paused at the door. "Oh, hang on. Why don't you bring Blitz with you? You could get in a quick walk with him while we're down there, that would help clear your head.

"Sure." Joe agreed. He wasn't certain it would help clear his head, but spending some time with his pet would perhaps distract him for a while.

He turned towards the stairs and walked over to the space underneath it. There sat a small bed of blankets and pillows pilled upon each other. Something lay underneath them, snoring deeply and shuffling. Joe grabbed to top blanked and begun to shake it gently back and forth. The thing that slept underneath them stirred, growled quietly.

"Wakey, wakey, buddy." Joe said in a childish voice. "Who wants to go for a… walk?!"

A head popped out of the blankest. It was small and covered in orange fur, with a beige muzzle, round ears, a small black nose, large eyes and tuft of ruffled hair sticking out of its forehead. The small dog barked, its tail protruding from the opposite end of the blankets. Joe patted its head and smiled, already feeling better.

"I knew that would get you onto your feet." He said, stepping back.

The dog followed him, shaking off the blankets. Down its legs and sides ran black stripes in jagged patterns, and its tail was mostly a mass of beige fur. The little dog scratched its neck with a back leg, looked up at its owner and said _'Grooowwwl?"_

"Come on, boy." Joe encouraged patting his knees to excite the puppy. "Let's go for a walk!"

It was the best present he could have asked for on his thirteenth birthday. He and his uncle had discussed the possibility of getting him his own pokémon for the last few months. The farm had several pokémon on it already, but most of them were working beasts, there to keep the fields in check and assure that the plants healthy. Joe had never owned his own pokémon before. That had changed when, on the first day of February, he had been handed something wrapped in a small blue blanket. Unwrapping it, Joe found a Growlithe puppy lying inside, not much more than a few weeks old. Instantly he knew that it was his to keep and to care for.

"He is yours now." His uncle had told him. "You will have to feed and care for him as your own pet. Perhaps someday you two can head out into the wide world and have an adventure for yourselves."

Joe had smiled joyfully back at him, holding the puppy in his arms. "Uncle, I'm not sure I'm ready for that."

"You won't know until you try." His uncle had told him.

Walker Green had once been an adventurer himself, exploring the Kanto region with his own team of pokémon. Many children once they were at an age of around twelve to fourteen were encouraged to go out and see the world. It was a historically acknowledged ritual that the people of Kanto, and of many other regions, went through in the hopes that it would help their children grow up to become kind, capable and fearless adults. But they wouldn't be expected to do this alone. It was customary for children partaking in this ritual to be gifted their own personal companion; a pokémon of their own choosing, who would protect them from the dangers of the wilderness and provide them with company on their solitary journey. These pokémon were given out only by individuals with specific qualifications and merits; individuals who had spent many years studying the subjects of pokémon care and training and had devoted much of their life to studying these creatures. This individuals were known worldwide as Pokémon Professors.

Pallet Town was home to one of the most celebrated and beloved professors of all time; Samuel Oak. There were few people alive who didn't know his name. He had cared for many different kinds of pokémon in his career and had started the careers of many talented Pokémon trainers as well. He had also been the first man to compile a complete glossary off all the known pokémon in the Kanto region, in a device which he had named the Pokédex. At the time it had been a revolutionary invention, though nowadays it was something that every trainer used and utilized. Joe knew all of this thanks to his uncle, who once, long ago, had gotten his first pokémon from Professor Oak as well as his own Pokédex. Now his uncle was trying to encourage Joe to do the same.

Joe himself was in mixed minds at the idea. On the one hand he loved being outside and was excited by the prospect of having an adventure and seeing the world. On the other hand he wasn't sure how well he would cope, having to travel by himself with only a pokémon as his companion, sometimes having to sleep outdoors or eat less-appetizing foods to keep himself going. He imagined he would miss home too. He had lived at the farm all his life, never once leaving. He hadn't even stepped outside of Pallet town before. Could he manage it out there in the big, wide world?

There was another issue with the matter. His uncle had given Blitz to Joe under the expectation that his nephew would take him as his first pokémon. Joe had been able to figure that out quite quickly. He would have agreed that the idea was good if he hadn't been observant of the puppy's behaviour. Blitz was certainly chipper and excitable, which were good traits for a young Growlithe according to his uncle. But that was also the problem. Blitz was still a puppy, not suited for travelling long distances or for partaking in battles against wild pokémon or other trainer pokémon. He could come to serious harm if he were to be used in such a way. There was also no way of knowing how such a journey would affect him. Dragging a human child out a comfortable environment and throwing them out to face the big wide world alone could be traumatic in itself, and for a puppy it wouldn't be much different. Joe had told his uncle about his concerns, but Walker had reassured him that it would not be as bad as that. His fears for Blitz were simply arising from his uncertainty about himself.

Regardless of what Joe thought, the decision had already been made. His uncle had arranged for Joe to visit the Pokémon Lab upon the town's tallest hill and speak with Professor Oak about setting out on his own adventure. In his mind it was tradition for a boy to go through this experience, but that made Joe feel no less uncertain. Could he not just stay at the farm? He liked it there, even with the amount of work that needed to be done. He could survive the muck-clearing and seed-sewing. He didn't know if he could survive the unknown adventure out there in the world.

He left the farmhouse with Blitz following close behind, locking the door behind them. His uncle was waiting for him at the entrance of a large red barn. It was here that the farm's work pokémon were kept. The land that was owned and used by the Greens was for the purpose of growing crops and not feeding cattle, so unlike other neighbouring farms which had herds grazing from dawn to dusk, all that roamed their fields were a few trained pokémon and some wild ones as well.

Walker Green took the handle of one of the large doors and began to pull it open. His nephew helped by pulling open the other door. Inside the barn patiently waited several pokémon that Joe knew quite well. He had known most of them since he was tiny, and knew all of their roles around the farm

The one that they had come to collect was an elderly creature; a large female venusaur with a wilting red flower growing from her spine. Beside her lay her sleeping companion, another venusaur of similar age, only this one was male and named Root. Both off them had the role of planting seeds in tilled ground and making sure that the sprouting plants were growing well. Root had done the western fields the previous day, so today it was Petal's duty to work the eastern fields.

Other than the elderly couple of green-skinned quadrupedal dinosaurs, there were several other creatures in the barn. In the pad beside the plant-like reptiles lay a large brown shell. Its inhabitant had currently withdrawn inside to sleep, though he would come out again soon enough. He was Blastoise named Spout, and his role was irrigate the fields and make sure that the plants had an appropriate supply of water. At the far end of the barn was a large white stallion with a lead tying it to a sturdy wooden post. Its main was aflame, as was its tail and the back of its legs, and from its forehead protruded a thin white horn. This was Mustang the Rapidash, whose primary role was for transport across the fields, though since the fields they were headed for was close by they wouldn't need his assistance for today. Then, against the other wall, there was a large purple-coloured butterfly with white wings kept inside a netted pen. That was Monarch the Butterfree, and her job was to spread pollen across the fields. Then, up in the rafters, sat a Pidgeot named Columbus inside a soft nest. Like with Mustang, his job was primarily for transport, though Columbus was required for traveling much further distances than just a few fields. Lying asleep amongst a pile of hay, outside of a pen, was a large, muscular and intimidating mother Kangaskhan. She had been given the appropriate name of Thumper, and according to his uncle she was the farms guard. Joe didn't doubt that she was good at it, either. One punch from her large arms would be enough to knock a fully grown man out cold. Yet right now she looked quite sweet, cuddled up amongst the hay with her infant joey snoozing in her pouch. Walker was yet to name the infant. Joe had suggested keeping the name Joey for it, but Walker had disagreed straight away. Finally there was the newest of the farm's working pokémon. In the last of the pens, which was made of tough steel bars, lay a snoozing red dragon with its tail curled around its chest. The farm's newest addition: Furnace the Charizard. His role was aptly described by his name. He was needed to provide heat to fires and furnaces that the Greens used to bake bread and other foods from their harvest. It was a new idea his uncle had come up with.

Some of these pokémon had been with his uncle for years. He knew that Petal, Spout and Columbus had been with him since the first time he had travelled around the Kanto region at age twelve. The others he had caught in later adventures or acquired to assist with the farm when he finally decided to settle down. Apparently it was not long after then that Joe had come into his life. But beyond helping with the farm, apparently a few of his pokémon provided another service. Joe wasn't complete certain of how it worked, but his uncle would often take some of the farm's pokémon to visit Professor Oak at his lab. Usually he would take Petal and Root, or Spout with him, but more recently he had been taking Furnace as well. He had once tried to explain to Joe that Professor Oak was struggling to obtain the region's starter pokémon for new trainers to adopt, and so he had set up a breeding program where trainers with matured versions of those three pokémon could bring them in and help increase the population. Joe hadn't been too sure on what any of that meant, and he had asked how baby pokémon were made. His uncle had fallen silent at that moment and tried to avoid the question.

_'Saauur.'_ Greeted the large green reptiles as Walker approached their pen. He unlocked the long wooden gate and held it open.

"Time to get to work, Petal." He announced.

The closer venusaur began plodding slowly towards the entrance. It took her half a minute to leave her pen, her companion watching her from behind with half-awake eyes.

"Push her from behind." Walker encouraged his nephew. Joe did as he was told, shoving the elderly venusaur with his shoulder to help her out of the barn. Petal grunted a few times, but didn't seem too bothered by this.

Outside the barn was parked a yellow tractor with a wide carrier attached to its back. The carrier had a low wall surrounding it was a ramp that lowered down to the ground. They needed it to transport Petal from the barn to the field. She had reached an age were long-distance walks were too exhausting, so moving her around required the assistance of a vehicle, since neither Walker nor Joe could manage to lift her by themselves.

Once she was finally on board the sun had reached a forty five degree axis upon the sky. Joe turned to his uncle, rubbing his strained hands against his trousers.

"We'd best get her down there," Walker told him with a smile. "Before it gets too late to do anything."

Though the carrier made their journey much faster than walking it didn't exactly make it easy. Petal was a very heavy old beasts, and she weighed down the tractor quite significantly. Due to this it could not reach its top speed, so their journey from barn to field was slower than it ought to be. Joe sat with her upon the carrier, leaning against the low barrier and holding onto one of the bars with cautious fingers as the tractor took them over hills and inclines. He could feel the vehicle shake and judder with its difficult movements.

The tractor had two seats inside it, but the reason Joe could not have ridden comfortably with his uncle was because that seat was already occupied. Through the rear window he could see the passenger staring out at him; a large orange furred dog with jagged black stripes and a fluffy beige mane. That was his Uncle's favourite pokémon, his starter pokémon: Korma the Arcanine, the form that Growlithe would evolve into. The elderly dog looked down at him through the murky glass, and at the puppy which lay upon his lap. It hadn't taken much for Joe to figure out that Korma was also Blitz's father. A few logical leaps had helped him reach that conclusion. The two pokémon were related, one being an evolution of the other. There was also the way that Korma treated the young puppy that keyed him in. He coddled it, observed it with caring eyes, and had on multiple occasions carried it by the scruff of the neck using his teeth. As Blitz's owner, Joe was expected to give him the utmost care. He doubted that Korma would look kindly on him if his child were to be maltreated.

They reached the field after half an hour of driving. Joe had to hop out in order to open the metal gate for the tractor to get through. His uncle parked it only a few metres beyond, turning it along the left stone wall so that the carrier could be brought in behind it. Joe and his uncle helped Petal out of the carrier and down the ramp. The moment she was out of the vehicle the elderly venusaur set to work upon the field. Walker placed a bag of wheat seeds in front of her, and with a set of long vines that protruded out of her flower she started scooping them up and dropping them into the ploughed earth.

While she was working Joe and his uncle began checking the walls for cracks and weathering. They were the only thing keeping land-based pests from sneaking into the fields, and as for the airborne pests they were usually kept out by the looming scarecrows stood at either end of the field. A couple of Pidgeys – the first evolutionary form of Pidgeot – had started to cluster in the trees nearby, and in the grass outside the wall Joe had already spotted a few Rattata creeping closer. They usually weren't too much of a problem, so long as there was something to keep them out. The presence of Korma the Arcanine seemed to be keeping them at bay. A large dog would be enough to keep back most opportunistic pokémon, but a large dog that could breathe fire hot enough to melt steel would make sure that they didn't come within fifty metres of the field.

The last thing they had to do was supply the field with water, which his uncle did using a trough that sat at the distant right corner of the field. Attaching a long hosepipe to one of the faucets he began spraying oxygenated water across the field. The water turned into a cloud as it left the hose, covering the field in damp air. Some of it caught Joe's hoodie and soaked it, some more struck Petal's flower, at which point she began to joyfully shake it from side to side. For her the water spray was nourishing, while for Joe it was bothersome.

"Sorry." His uncle called back with a faint chuckle.

Joe unzipped his hoodie and attempted to let the water soak out through it. Wet clothing was one of the worst sensations.

"I think we're mostly done for today." His uncle told him once the seeds had been planted and watered and covered over with dirt once more. By then it was approaching evening, and the two of them had been outside for most of the day. Joe's hoodie had dried out by then, so he had zipped it back up.

"Do you need me to do anything else?" Joe asked his uncle.

"No." Walker said. "Though it's going to take me some time to get Petal into the carrier and back to the barn, so perhaps you could take Blitz for a walk back to the house."

Joe wasn't so sure about the suggestion. Between the fields and the farmhouse were several hills that he would have to climb. The sun was starting to descend and the sky was getting darker. He didn't really want to take the long walk when a shorter journey was available.

"Do I have to?" He asked.

"It'd be a good idea." His uncle assured him. "It might help you feel more confident about leaving home for a while."

Joe rolled his eyes. Of course his uncle was thinking about helping him set off on his own Pokémon adventure. He should have realised that from the start. But he could hardly argue with him about it. Walker Green didn't tend to listen to complaints or arguments. Once he had decided on doing something it was impossible to shake him off. Joe had already tried before, and never had he succeeded.

"Okay." He agreed with defeat.

"You'll be okay." His uncle reassured him with a pat on the shoulder. "Be back before it gets dark, and don't go into the woods. The swarms will be growing larger this time of year. You don't need to get yourself stung."

Joe nodded in understanding. People were often warned to avoid the eastern forest around spring, as that was when the Beedrill were starting to spawn and form nests. It was all too easy for an explorative kid to wonder into their territory and be attacked without warning.

_'Growwww?'_ Blitz pawed at his leg, his short claws scratching the ends of his trousers. Joe reached down and stroked his head. Blitz began licking his fingers. He could see from the corner of his eyes that Korma was staring at him. The large orange dog looked at him with large black eyes, warning Joe through a glance that he ought to be careful when caring for the puppy. Korma had never had any problems with the young man before, though he was neither especially affectionate towards him. Now that he was caring for his son, the fire-breathing hound had taken a disconcerting interest in him.

"Okay, buddy." Joe said to the little dog at his feet. "Let's go have that walk."

* * *

The little orange dog ran ahead of him, along the fields and up the hillsides with youthful bursts of speed. Joe trailed behind, trying to keep up but possessing nowhere near as much energy as the Growlithe puppy. He was impressed that Blitz could manage to scale a whole hillside without slowing down.

Far behind him he could hear the sound of the tractor's engine starting. His uncle had already gotten Petal into the carrier then. His decision to let Joe go ahead had been purely to get him traveling by himself. He truly was set upon this idea of his nephew becoming an adventurer as well.

Blitz had already reached the top of the first hill. He looked down the path and barked, encouraging Joe to catch up. The teenager was already feeling tired, not so much from the walking or the climbing but from the attempt to keep up with his pet. Joe loved having his own Pokémon, but he had never expected it to be so demanding. At least he didn't have to concern himself – yet – with using Blitz in battles against wild Pokémon and other Pokémon trainers, nor did he have to fear for Blitz's health. Even if he wanted to, Blitz was far too young for any of that. He was still a puppy, and could do very little to hurt anything on purpose. He couldn't even breathe fire yet. That usually occurred when a Growlithe was around three months old, though often it started as a small ember and not a blazing stream.

Joe reached the top of the hill. Blitz jumped up at him, excited to be outside and exercising. Joe put a hand under his chin and stroked his neck. Together they looked out across the land. Ahead of them was the south, where the farmhouse sat and beyond that Pallet Town. Behind them was the north, long fields and hills and forest, and then beyond that the rest of the Kanto Region. Joe couldn't deny that he was curious about what lay out there; what other town made up the region he was born in, what other people lived there, what sights and sounds would he see and hear, what smells and sensations? A part of him started to feel excited at the prospect. But that feeling was quickly extinguished by logic. He wasn't ready for that. Adventurers and Pokémon trainers needed to be a specific sort of person. They needed to be fit, curious, energetic and brave. Joe could fill some of those parts but not all of them. He had never done anything especially brave in his life, and though he was often curious he was never so much so that he could push himself to leave his comfort zone and explore the unknown. He wasn't like his uncle. He couldn't just jump into the deep end of life and go wherever the current took him. He had to know what he was doing, plan out his journey, and prepare for obstacles. He would never make a good adventurer or a good Pokémon trainer because of that.

"We should get back." Joe realised, seeing the sky begin to turn purple and the sun slowly descending in the west. "Come on, Bl-" He turned. Blitz wasn't there anymore. His Growlithe puppy had run off.

From somewhere on the other side of the hill he heard an excited and curious bark. Joe ran over to the sound, and saw Blitz standing in front of a lone bramble bush. He was looking at it with excited and interested eyes, digging at the ground with his paws. Joe rushed over to him and stood over him, looking down at the ground his pet was digging up, then at the bush it was so interested in.

"What are you doing?" Joe asked inquisitively. Blitz looked up at him, barked, and then continued with his digging. His wet black nose twitched and moved. He had caught the scent of something. "Did you find a Rattata?" Joe asked, kneeling down beside his pet. "Leave it alone, you'll only get bitten."

Blitz didn't listen to him. He continued to paw at the ground, ripping up small lumps of grass and dry earth. He then began exhaling, trying to breath fire. Joe had seen him do this before, but he was not yet capable of creating flame. Young Pokémon didn't tend to know elemental moves like that. But that didn't stop Blitz from trying. He gnawed at one of the branches in annoyance, the thorns jabbing the inside of his mouth, but that didn't discourage him.

"Blitz, stop it now." Joe instructed, watching as his dog attempted to chew off a thick branch covered in thorns. "Surely that must hurt."

Blitz glanced at him, smiling joyfully. Clearly he was having fun with this strange escapade. Joe grabbed the Growlithe puppy by the sides and attempted to pull him away from the bush. Blitz wouldn't loosen his grip upon the plant, no matter how hard Joe pulled. His tail was wagging wildly, whipping Joe's arms as he attempted to pull him away.

"Come on now." Joe grunted, hearing the puppy growling in his hands. "You're being silly. You're going to get h-"

Suddenly the bush moved. Something quick and dark struck out from within it, slicing through the air at such a speed that Joe couldn't quite see it. He fell backwards, gripping Blitz to his chest. A segment of bramble was still gripped in his teeth. Whatever had attempted to attack them was now gone. Joe stared forwards, still seeing the flash of movement that it had created; a faint haze of purple.

Weakly he stood up, putting Blitz onto the ground beside him, and looked with curious alarm at the bush.

"What was that?" He exclaimed.

_'Groooow…'_ Blitz whined. He suddenly seemed afraid. The piece of bramble had dropped from his mouth, and he backed away with his tail limb between his legs.

Though he was also scared, Joe pushed himself to move closer. He wanted to grab Blitz and run away, but what if the thing that had attacked them was injured, or simply afraid. He had to know what it was, that it wasn't a threat.

He looked into the brambles. For a moment he saw nothing but the branches and the shadows in between. Then he spotted it; a large yellow eye with a deep red pupil. It was looking right at him, staring into his own eyes as if it were scouring his soul. Joe couldn't hold his nerve any longer. He stumbled back, breathing heavily. He picked Blitz up and ran down the hill, away from the bushes.

He didn't stop running until they reached the farmhouse. He wasn't sure what he had seen within that bramble bush… be he knew from its eyes that it would have attacked again if they had stayed any longer.


	3. Chapter 2 - The Lonely Pokémon

He burst through the door. His uncle looked up from the sofa, putting the newspaper down onto his lap. Joe was panting, Blitz gripped in his arms. He slammed the door shut behind him and leaned against it.

"Are you okay?" Walker Green asked, rising from his seat.

Joe looked over at him, his bear-like hold on Blitz loosening as he started to relax. Could he explain to his uncle what had just happened, could he tell him about the… _thing_ he had seen in the bramble bush? What if he had been imagined it? What if it had been nothing? What if his uncle wanted to go back there and look for it? Would it attack him again? Would it turn out that nothing was there? What would happen then? Would his uncle laugh at him, mock him, doubt his maturity? His mind was swimming with fears and uncertainties.

He looked up. Several seconds had passed and still he hadn't answered. His uncle was looking at him with concern. "I'm fine." He said through quick breaths, visibly shaken and shuddering.

"Did something happen?" His uncle pressed, not believing that his nephew was perfectly alright. Joe looked far too startled and shaken to play calm. "Did you run all that way?" He continued to interrogate.

Joe nodded, lowering Blitz onto the ground. Without a whimper the small dog waddled over to his bed, curled up on the blanket and buried his head in the sheets.

"I… tripped." Joe lied. He could tell from his uncle's stare that he didn't believe it, but that was the story that he would stick with. "It's late. I'm going to get an early night's sleep."

"Okay." His uncle watched him take his shoes of and leave them by the door. He was about to walk up the stairs to his bedroom when he spoke up once again. "Something's bothering you. You can talk to me about it, you know."

Joe paused half way up. He looked over the wooden banister at the greying haired man sat upon the sofa.

"I know." Joe said, trying to end the conversation quickly, He knew what his uncle was trying to do. He was trying to squeeze the information out of him through concerned but continuous questions.

"If you're still worried about tomorrow-" Walker Green began.

"No, Uncle." Joe interrupted quickly.

"You needn't be." His uncle continued, unperturbed. "Your father and I were both nervous when we started out, but we quickly adapted to it. You'll be the same, I'm certain of it."

"But what if I don't want that?" Joe asked, knowing that he was falling for his uncle's interrogation techniques but unable to let the comment slide. "What if I don't want to go out into the world yet?"

"Do you want to stay here for the rest of your life?" His uncle said. "Do you want to spend your entire adolescence working on a farm for your old uncle? You might think you're comfortable here right now but you won't always feel that way. At some point you'll want to spread your wings and fly away, but if you spend all your time stuck here then you'll find you can't break free. Getting started now will help with that, trust me. It helped me and it helped your father. We were both like you to start with, but once we got out there into the world we grew up and became independent."

"I'm not you, though." Joe snapped. "And I'm not dad, either."

"You're very much like him." Walker said.

"I didn't even know him." Joe's fingers tightened around the banister.

"Joe…" His uncle said quietly, a voice full of sympathy. "Buddy…" He looked at his nephew, who was fuming with anger. The two hated discussing this matter. It brought out such strong emotions in them both. "If your dad were here today he would tell you the same. What happened to him was… awful… but you don't have to be afraid of that, it won't happen to you. The world isn't worth being scared of, it's worth understanding. I want what's best for you, and I truly believe that what's best for you is out there, waiting for you."

"Then you don't know me at all." Joe huffed moodily. "There's nothing out there for me but fear, anxiety and loneliness.

His uncle tilted his head. "You say that, but you're fearful, anxious and lonely here. You only have the one friend, and he's already set off to become a Pokémon trainer. Why not follow in his tracks? Perhaps you'll meet him on the way."

"I'm comfortable here. I'm safe here." Joe insisted

"You won't always be." His uncle repeated. It sounded strangely threatening, though Walker Green was not a man who could lay a hand on anyone with intent to harm.

"I'm going to bed." Joe said. He let go of the banister, which swayed with the release. He stomped upstairs. From the bed underneath the stairs Blitz looked up at him, still shivering with fear.

Walker Green lowered his head, feeling guilty. He was failing his nephew. He turned to Korma, who lay by his feat upon the soft green carpet, his head propped upon his front paws. Walker reached down a hand and stroked his mane.

"He's far too much like his father." He sighed.

* * *

Joe kicked open his bedroom door. Opposite was the open window, through which the night time air breathed through. The curtains fluttered gently from its edges.

He threw himself onto the bed, curling up atop the blanked and clenching a pillow to his chest. Though he tried to fight back the feeling he couldn't overcome it. He started to cry. Why couldn't his uncle understand? Why couldn't he make him see? He was not an adventurer. He was not a Pokémon trainer. He never could be either of those things. He didn't have that sense of courage. He didn't have that determination, that guile, that willingness to throw oneself upon the unknown. Joe was terrified of the unknown. How could he not be when most nights he was plagued by nightmares that he could never remember?

Outside the window the sky was dark, the faint remnants of the sun now disappearing behind the western horizon. The fields had turned purple in its light. Joe knew that he wouldn't be able to sleep for a while yet, not that he would want to. What was waiting for him in the veil of rest other than the night terrors he had been facing his entire life? His uncle had taken him to see a doctor once, and that doctor had prescribed him a series of mild sleeping pills. They had helped Joe fall asleep, but they hadn't taken away the dreams, so ultimately he had quickly given up on taking them. He had heard of methods that could help prevent nightmares, such as having a regular sleeping schedule, lying on one side of your body and having a nightlight, but nothing seemed to make stop them entirely. There was currently no way to stopping them altogether, so Joe had been forced to learn to live with them.

He had decided that sleep was not what he wanted just yet. Instead, to keep his brain active for a few hours more, he rolled over, scooped up a remote from the end table beside his bed and began to watch TV.

There wasn't much on worth watching; mostly news reports on the matter involving the Power Plant, but Joe was not interested in following that right now, it would only make him feel worse. There was also the Pokémon Battle Channel, dedicated to recording live battles between Pokémon trainers from various sites across the region, but Joe never watched that to begin with. Watching such talented trainers and powerful Pokémon do battle only cemented his belief that he would never become a capable trainer himself. He finally decided to leave the TV on an old black-and-white comedy show involving three rather dim-witted men in oddball situations. He barely laughed once.

As the darkness outside grew and the hour got later, Joe found his consciousness was beginning to slip. Finally he gave up trying to stay awake, and let sleep take him.

* * *

A sudden loud, shrill, ear-splitting sound woke him. Joe sat bolt upright, the covers flying from his body and across the bed. Outside it was still dark, with no hint of sunlight on the horizon. The sound had come from outside, far across the hillside.

Joe slid quickly out of bed and approached the window, leaning out into the cold night air. He barely noticed that his TV and bedroom light had been switched off while he slept, probably by his uncle who had come up to check on him. The curtains fluttered beside him, striking his shoulders and wrapping around his back. He didn't notice them either. He stared out at the darkness, at the black landscape, at the horizon of hills.

High upon the sky was a new moon, visible only as a faint grey shape within a thin white ring. It provided very little light to see by, and the clouds forming around it did nothing to help. Yet in the darkness and the shadows Joe could see something; a shape moving far off upon a hillside. From this distance it was small and practically invisible, but as it moved he could make out its existence against the dark sky.

He rubbed his eyes. Perhaps he was imagining it. He had not yet full awoken, and his eyes were slightly blurry from sleep. But after allowing his sight to recover and adjust to the dim light levels he found that he could still see the shape, still see it moving in the darkness upon the hillside. And now that his eyes had adjusted he was able to see more shapes, more shadows that moved around the first. They were smaller and harder to spot than the first, but their movements were so erratic and continuous that not seeing them was impossible. There were about six moving shadows in total, five of them quick and small, one of them large and trapped between the others.

"Are those... Pokémon...?" Joe peered out at the sight. Most likely they were. Humans didn't move like that, nor were they as fast. It had to be a Pokémon. A group of wild Pokémon were battling upon the hillside.

This shouldn't have surprised him so much. Pokémon would often fight over anything: territory, food, mating rights, dominance, power, because they'd been told to by their trainer or instructor. It was just a part of their nature, and humans weren't much different. So why did it bother him? The more Joe asked that question the more Joe realised that it was something else that was upsetting him, something that didn't fit in with that natural explanation.

It was the scream. That sharp sound that had woken him up. That was what bothered him. It wasn't a scream of anger, or of intimidation, or of excitement, or of pain. It struck Joe as a scream of desperation. Something had called out in hopelessness, possibly trying to draw attention or possibly because it could do nothing else. But it hadn't just awoken Joe from his nightmare filled sleep. It had struck a further sadness into his heart, and embedded there a splinter of pity. He felt bad for the creature under attack upon the hill. He had never felt pity in such a way before. Living on a farm such as his Uncle's had introduced him to Pokémon from a young age, so he knew that they were creatures with emotions, personalities and characteristics. But never before had he heard one sound so scared, so in pain, so... alone.

He didn't realise until a few seconds had passed that he was putting on his clothes once more and stepping out through his bedroom door. He wasn't completely sure why. Logically he knew that there was little he could do about the matter. This was nature, and nature had to take its course. He wasn't supposed to interfere. Even if he was supposed to help, how could he. He had no Pokémon of his own, none who could fight, and he didn't even know what battling upon that hill. If he tried to help he could become a target himself, either for the attacker or the victim too. He was at the top of the stairs when he acknowledged why he was going out there to save the creature. It was because he sympathised with it. That creature was afraid, anxious, uncertain and alone... and so was he.

The final step creaked slightly. The head of his puppy shot up, awake to the teenage boy's presence. Blitz yawned loudly and wagged his tail. Joe turned to him, quickly slipping his shoes onto his feet.

"Shhhh." He whispered, putting a finger to his lip and he wobbled on one foot. "Please, Blitz, don't bark. Don't wake up Uncle Walker."

Blitz looked at him, head tilted. His tail was still waggling. A small yip escaped from his mouth, followed by a quiet whine.

"Please..." Joe repeated, glancing towards the stairs. It seemed that his uncle had not woken up, but one loud bark from the puppy and he would be downstairs immediately.

Thankfully Blitz didn't bark, nor did he yip or yap loud enough to disturb anyone sleeping in the house. Joe sighed and tiptoed quickly and quietly to the front door. His uncle's house keys were hanging from the arm of a coat hanger beside it, and Joe slid them off gently. He unlocked the door with a clunk of the lock. He flinched, expecting to hear footsteps from the floor above, but after a few seconds there was no sound. Sure that he had not awoke his one family member, Joe opened the door carefully and snuck out into the cold.

He had barely left the house when he heard excited panting beneath him. He looked down. Blitz looked up at him in excitement. Joe groaned, realising that the puppy thought they were going for a midnight walk.

"No, go back inside!" Joe instructed quietly, pointing a finger through the ajar doorway. Blitz looked at it, then back at him. He leaned up on his back legs and pawed at his jacket. "I said no, you can't come with me." Joe continued.

Blitz began to give him puppy eyes, which he didn't find difficult. Joe groaned, rubbing his face. He was still recovering from sleep and rather keen to get back to bed, and yet for some reason he had decided to take it upon himself to rescue a random Pokémon from a fight with a couple of other random Pokémon. He still wasn't sure why he was doing it, but he couldn't turn back now, not after he had made the decision to leave the house. How would he explain this to his uncle if he found out? He'd most likely be angry, yet knowing him he would probably also be proud. Joe wasn't looking forward to that ambivalent response. It struck him also that running to save a wild creature from a couple of other wild creatures was not especially safe. Children were always being reminded to avoid tall grass, woods, ponds and caves in case wild Pokémon attacked them, and if they were to go into such places they ought to take a Pokémon of their own with them. If he was going to go through with this than this once he should take his uncles advice and bring a Pokémon to protect him.

He looked down at Blitz and sighed. "Alright, come on." He closed the door behind them and ran off into the dark. Blitz followed eagerly at his heels. The puppy was hardly the best choice for a fight, barely knowing how to bark or to bight, but since Joe could not instruct his uncle's well-trainer Pokémon even if he wanted to there was no other choice. It was either Blitz or nothing.

The boy and the dog ran across the fields in the dark. They could barely see where they stood, and often Joe placed his foot upon a hole or a loose piece of earth and nearly fell flat on his face. He risked breaking a leg doing this, but if he could save something's life it would be worth it. He kept telling himself that as he ran, and tried to ignore the fear of death welling up at the back of his brain.

The further they ran the closer they got to the fight. Now that they were only a hill's distance away Joe could see what Pokémon they were. A small swarm of Beedrill were gathered around their target upon a small knoll far across the field. He could hear the angry buzzing faintly upon the wind. What they were attacking was still invisible in the dark, but Joe could see that it was larger than they were. It was also injured, and trying to back away from the furious insects. It must have done something to upset a nest somewhere nearby, and now it was facing several of their soldiers. Joe regretted not picking up a can of repellent. That might have made the situation easier to handle. On the other hand it may have also bothered the victimised Pokémon and scared it off before he could help.

As he was reaching the foot of that hill he noticed something he hadn't spotted till them. Upon its peak was a bramble bush with twisted branches and thick leaves. Several of its branches were gnawed or snapped. Was this the same bush from earlier that day? If it was then this must also be the same hill. Then was this victimised Pokémon what had been hiding under that bush? Joe began to slow down. He had started to feel less sure about helping it and much more fearful of it. But he couldn't turn back, not now that he was here, not after running across hills and fields to reach it.

The wind suddenly picked up. It buffeted Joe with the strength of a hurricane, lifting him off his feet and throwing him to the ground. He landed on his back, wincing and groaning. He sat up. Just as quickly as it had struck, the gale died down.

"What was that?" He groaned. Blitz ran up to his leg and pulled at his trousers with his teeth. Joe pushed himself onto his feet, and saw the little orange dog turn towards the hill and growl. Joe followed his gaze. At the top of the hill the victimized creature was attacking back. Two large wings extended from its dark body; thin and leathery flaps of skin on narrow limbs. They moved, and from them expelled another powerful barrage of air. Joe managed to stay standing this time but only just, almost wobbling on one foot to stay balanced.

How could he get up the hill to help if that this would just push him back down? Did it even need his help if it could create a gust like that? Joe noticed that the creature had no legs, instead staying aloft by flapping its two large wings up and down. Another much smaller set of wings protruded from the back of its large, rounded body, though they didn't seem to do much in the way of keeping it airborne. Joe didn't know many Pokémon outside of the regional starters and the few his uncle owner. He certainly didn't know this one. But it looked like a flying type Pokémon to him, so surely it could just fly away from its attacks. Beedrill cannot hover much more than a couple of feet off the ground, so they wouldn't be able to follow after it. The only explanation Joe know of that would keep it from flying away was if one of its wings were injured. He could see no such injury upon the creature in this light, though he could barely see the creature either.

His legs moved before his brain could stop them. He ran up the side of the hill, propelled himself into the middle of the battle and stood in front of the winged Pokémon. He spread his arms out, attempting to seem bigger to the bugs and protect more of their target. He lowered his head and glared with narrowed eyes at the venomous wasps. They looked back at him, surprised.

"Blitz, to me!" Joe bellowed. The Growlithe puppy ran up and stood between his feet, back arched and growling at the overgrown insects. He was nervously aware of the creature behind him, as was Joe. They both glanced back at it. All they saw in the dark was its large body... and two yellow eyes with red irises.

Joe gulped. This wasn't just a random Pokémon, it was the one that had attacked him from under the bramble bush. Its gaze filled him with fear, as its eyes fixed solely upon him. It also seemed confused as to why he would jump into the middle of the fight. It had not attacked him yet, and Joe only hoped that it wouldn't try to. He turned back towards the Beedrill.

"Blitz..." He began to instruct, copying the speaking style and manner of the trainers on TV, "Use Flare!"

Blitz opened his mouth wide, closed his eyes, and exhaled in the direction of the Beedrill.

Nothing happened. A few small specks of burning ash floated out from his throat.

The Beedrill began to buzz rapidly. Were they laughing? Joe looked down at the puppy. Blitz was coughing. He still hadn't figured out how to create flame. Quickly his daring rescue was starting to seem like a very bad idea. The Beedrill were closing in on them now, forming a half circle in front of the young teenager and his pet dog. Joe hadn't wanted to put Blitz in danger, but now they were both cornered between a swarm of angry bees and an unknown creature that could attack them from behind at any moment. He could hear it moving its wings, feel its breath on his spine, imagine it glaring at the back of his head. How stupid he had been to run out here in the dark with no way of protecting himself. The one time he decided to be brave had gotten him into this situation. The chances of him getting away uninjured were very low. The chances of him _and_ Blitz getting away uninjured were even lower.

He stood his ground, arms out and legs shaking but standing strong. He had made the choice to help, and he wouldn't move until he did so. Though fear was beginning to overtake his mind, he refused to let it get a hold. Doubt asked him why he was doing this, but he ignored it. He couldn't question it now. All he knew is that he was stood between an attacker and a victim, and if he could he would do whatever possible to defend them. Blitz was still with him, unable to run away and leave his owner behind but just as scared and unsure as he was. He began to bark and growl at the Beedrill, but that did little to unnerve them or make them think twice. They were set upon attacking, and any second now...

One of the bees lunged, thrusting a drill-tipped leg at Joe's torso. He stood his ground, unmoving, eyes fixed upon the drill's point. He had never been attacked like this before. He desperately wanted to jump away, back away, run away and escape... but he fought against that feeling. He had to be brave, just this once. He had made a choice to help, and even if it was a stupid decision he would stick to it. The point of its stinger was less than an inch from piercing his jacket. It would shred through it with relative ease, and strike the soft pink skin of his chest.

A purple blur... and then a collapsed Beedrill lay before him. Joe looked down at it. What had just happened? It had been so fast that he could barely recall seeing anything, just a purple movement. Then the attacking Pokémon had collapsed. Something had protected him. He looked down at Blitz. It hadn't been him. He was in just as much shock as Joe was, and regardless he could not move that fast or pull of an attack like that. Joe turned around.

His blue eyes met with the yellow ones of the winged Pokémon behind him. He stared into its red irises, and it stared back. For a split second there was a sharing of emotion. They appeared to understand each other perfectly. Joe could tell exactly what it was thinking. He could see confusion in those eyes; confusion as to why a human would protect it. There was also uncertainty in there, and suspicion, and anger. But slowly forming within those bright eyes was another set of emotions: kindness, respect, confidence, hope.

With a swift movement the dark, winged creature moved in front of the teenage boy and his pet dog. Joe had thrown himself into harm's way to protect an unknown wild Pokémon. Now that unknown wild Pokémon was doing the same for him. He felt strangely grateful, even though he knew that he was failing in his efforts to protect it. Now that it was in front of him Joe could make out more of its shape. It wasn't just a dark coloured body with wings. It was a large, purple skinned bat. He had never seen anything like it before.

Another Beedrill was attacking now, replacing the one which had been struck down. It lunged with both its drill stingers aimed at the creature's large body. The creature retaliated by lashing out with one of its large wings, leaving a gash upon the air itself. The Beedrill seemed to dodge the attack however, and landed one of its stingers into the area of skin just below the creature's wide mouth. It winced and exclaimed in pain.

_'Croooooo!'_ it stated, wounded and enraged. It raised its other wing and brought it down upon the Beedrill's back, striking it to the grassy floor. It did not attempt to get back up. Now only three were left.

Yet Joe sharply realised that only two Beedrill were hovering in front of them. The third one had disappeared somewhere. The sound of buzzing was growing louder. He turned upon his heels to see it flying around the side of the hill, away from the creature and towards him. Blitz shuffled under Joe's feet and growled as it approached. They were defenceless against the creature. Blitz didn't know any attacks to fight back against it, and Joe himself couldn't do anything to stop it. With the now allied creature protecting their back from the other two bugs they had nothing that could defeat this third one.

The Beedrill took no time in waiting to attack. It charged towards the unprotected boy with all three of its stingers extending, including the one at the tip of its abdomen. It was then that Blitz jumped out from between Joe's legs, yapping ferociously at the bee. It didn't care. To it the small dog's barks were quiet, timid squeaks. However Blitz's bravery had attracted its attention. It aimed its attack at him now.

"No!" Joe exclaim, seeing its eyes focus upon the Growlithe puppy and its body slowly descend closer to the ground.

Again he didn't think before he acted, his body moved by itself. He barely had any time to think anyway, as the bee was only a few feet away. He jumped forwards, reaching out like a goalie attempting to catch a football. He landed in front of Blitz just as the Beedrill attacked. Its stingers hit Joe in the chest, stabbing through his jacket and into his shoulders and ribs.

He yelled in pain, feeling poison begin to burn in his blood. His chest was on fire, shooting pains running down his arms, burning his muscles like acid. He clenched up into a ball, he stingers still stuck in his body.

He didn't notice the Beedrill trying to pull its stingers out from his body, neither did he notice Blitz crawl up onto his owner's side and glare at the Pokémon. He could feel the dog standing on him, but his vision was starting to blur as the poison set in. He wouldn't have long before it knocked him unconscious, or even possibly killed him. It didn't quite register at first what he saw happen next. There was a flash of red light and a warm sensation upon the air. Then the Beedrill was fleeing, flames coating its body. Blitz nuzzled him weakly. His breath was warm, and when he exhaled he released a small cloud of ash.

"You... flamed...?" Joe realised. Blitz barked at him, nudging his arm, trying to get him to stand. Joe's legs and arms had gone numb. He couldn't feel the grass underneath him. He couldn't feel the blood seeping from the wounds on his chest. All he felt was the aching, burning pain of the poison. He was about to lose consciousness. How stupid he had been to run out here so defenceless.

A blast of air sent him rolling. He landed against the bramble bush, half buried under its sharp thorns and leaves. He found himself watching the battle between the strange Pokémon and its two Beedrill attackers. It had struck out with both its wings, creating a massive gale of air. In doing so it had battered and bruised the two Beedrill, sending them flying backwards across the hillside. Reeds of grass were ripped from their rooting, and even the nearby trees started to sway harshly.

Finally the attackers were defeated. The creature swayed slightly, turned around to look at Joe. Their eyes met once more; the human boy and the giant bat. Then, with a gentle sigh, it collapsed. It lay on the ground in a huddle, its wings spread out and its face staring blankly and unconsciously up at the dark sky. A new mood shone faintly down upon the scene. Two defeated Beedrill, one unconscious bat, a teenager quickly losing consciousness and a Growlithe puppy.

Joe reached out for the creature, trying to crawl to it. His fingers weren't strong enough to grip the grass anymore. He could hardly move his body. His muscles were tight and tired, his blood burned, his head hurt. He was trying the best he could to fight it, but ultimately his body was losing.

He fell still, half his body covered by the bramble bush and half exposed to the moonlight. He lay on his front, his jacket pierced and marked with blood. Blitz sat with his owner hopefully, and howled up at the new moon.


	4. Chapter 3 - The Mystery

He awoke to a bright light shining into his face. Joe blinked. His retinas were being seared by the harsh glow. He held up a limp hand to bloke it out, only for it to fall upon his face. He grunted and sat sharply up. His body was exhausted and aching all over. Most of his parts were numb, though with some effort he could move them. His legs lay out in front of him like limp lines of jelly.

It took him a few seconds to realise where he was. It was not the harsh light of the morning sun that was hurting his eyes but the white light of a man-made electric bulb attached to a large metal lamp. Instead of a grassy hillside he was lying instead upon a hard metal bed, with only a single cushion to prop up his head. Once his eyes had adjusted to the light he noticed that he was surrounded by four white-painted walls, each slightly curving as they ascended. A ceiling sat above his head, cylindrical in shape and red in colour. From above several more light hung down, though they were not as harsh as the lamp still pointed at his face. Beside his uncomfortable makeshift bed was another smaller table upon which were piles of glass vials and jars and metal tools of varying sharpness. Piecing the available clues together, Joe realised where he was.

He was inside a laboratory. Someone must have found him upon the hill and brought him here. Now the questions were who, why and where. In his current state of flaccid confusion Joe doubted he was capable of asking anyone anything. He could hear movement to his right however. Weakly he rolled onto his side, lying upon his arm which was still numb and therefore not sending shooting pains to his brain. A greying haired man in a white lab coat stood in front of a table, examining something which Joe couldn't see. He was holding something in his hand; it looked like a pad of paper, though the man was sliding his hand across it rather than using a pen or pencil.

The bed squeaked. The man paused, standing straight. Slowly he turned around. An aged face looked down at the injured young man with kind black eyes. A small smile spread across his face.

"Ah, you're awake then." He stated, putting the pad down on the table and approaching the young man in his care. "I got a little worried when you were first brought in, but it seems you're recovering well."

"Who...?" Joe groaned, blinking at the old scientist stood over him. "Where...?"

"Questions already?" The man asked with a chipper tone. "And two very good ones at that. Surely I don't need to explain _who_ to you, do I?"

Joe looked at him. He didn't recognise this man, nor did he recognise the lab in which they were located. His expression got that across, and the elderly scientist shook his head with a disappointed sigh.

"Youths these days." He muttered. "Never taking the time to get to know their elders. Take a guess, young man. Who might I be?"

Joe's mind was still feeling rather rubbery. Thought was proving a little difficult. He would have to knead it a bit on order to warm it up and get it working again. He looked at the man, at the table, at the walls and the ceiling, at everything he could see. He was trying to find something that would give him a hint. What was there to work with. He was in a labority. That in itself was a clue. He had been knocked out on top of a hill near Pallet Town, so chances were he hadn't been taken out of the town for help. So then he was in a lab in Pallet Town. There was only the one lab he knew of that was located here. Quickly he was gaining an idea of who this man was. And then he looked at the objects located atop the tables and bookshelves and desks around the room. There were glass vials and jars, but there were also award medals and cups of silver and goals lined up in prideful displays. Then there was the pad, which Joe could now see for what it was: a red electronic tablet. Finally there was the man himself; a scientist at an age between sixty and seventy, with short grey hair and black irises, slightly below average height and with a small gut protruding through his open white coat.

"Are you... Oak...?" He finally realised.

The man chuckled. "Professor Samuel Oak, thank you. I prefer my full title, not just _Oak_."

Joe rubbed his forehead. What was he doing in the old professor's lab? He tried to sit up, and nearly fell of the bed.

"Whoa, take it easy." The professor exclaimed, catching Joe's shoulder and pushing him back up. "You're still recovering from the poison's effects. I did what I can, but I'm not a professional human medic. You're going to feel weak and sore for a while, but you'll start to feel normal again in a few hours or so."

Normal. What was normal right now? After what had happened last night Joe wasn't sure what to expect next. He couldn't believe he had been that stupid, running out into the dark to fight a bunch of irate Beedrill without a Pokémon to properly protect him. He was lucky to be alive.

"Did you... find me?" Joe asked, feeling at the holes in his hoodie. The skin which had been struck by the bees' stingers was covered by bandages and soft cloth that coagulated with blood and purple liquid.

"Don't remove those for a few days or your skin won't reform properly." The professor stated quickly, noticing Joe pick at the bandages. "And no, I didn't find you. You were brought here by one of a nearby farmer in the early hours of the morning. He said that he saw you running out in front of the bees."

"Crap!" Joe muttered.

"Well, it was fortunate that he did see you." Professor Oak continued, dampening a soft sponge under a tap and placing it on Joe's forehead. "If Mr. Green hadn't been there who knows what might have happened to you?"

Joe looked at the professor, not sure he had heard him right. "Mr. Green?" He asked.

"Walker Green." The Professor explained, taking Joe's temperature with a thermometer. "He owns the farm at the northern edge of town.

Joe felt his blood turn cold. The alcohol inside the thermometer sharply ascended. The situation was now much, much worse. Not some random local farmer but his own uncle. Then he must have noticed that Joe was gone, or perhaps he had seen him leave. What would he say to him? He was most certainly in trouble. Then he remembered...

"Blitz!" Joe exclaimed weakly, swaying on the bed. "My puppy... where is he?"

"The Growlithe is outside with Mr. Green right now. He found him lying beside you."

Joe relaxed a little. His pet was safe at least. "He's with my uncle then?"

The professor looked at him. "Walker Green's your uncle?" He asked.

Joe pointed a finger at his wounded chest. "Joe Green." He said with a wince.

The professor nodded, realising. "I see. Of course, that makes sense. I knew he had a nephew, but I didn't know that was you. We've never met before, have we?"

Joe shook his head.

"No, I didn't think we had." The professor murmured. "I've a good memory for faces."

He turned around to the desk behind him and picked up the tablet. He began swiping with a finger, seemingly searching for something that was stored on it.

"Tell me, Master Green... do you recognise this creature?"

The professor held the tablet in front of Joe, the screen displaying the live feed of another lab room. It was similar to the one he was currently sitting in, except for one feature. Upon the hard bed within that room lay not a person but a Pokémon. Joe looked at it, now seeing in the manmade light what the creature in the dark actually looked like.

It was a large, purple bat, with two large wings protruding from the upper half of its oval body and two smaller wings protruding from the lower half. It had two large eyes, two narrow pointed ears, a large triangular mouth and two tiny feet at the bottom of its body. It was currently unconscious, though breathing slowly through its large teeth. Several gashes covered its body; wounds caused by the Beedrill attack.

"That Pokémon was up on the hill!" Joe stated, surprised to see it. "It was being attacked by the Beedrill. That's why I was out there last night."

He turned to the Professor. Samuel Oak looked at the screen and the large bad creature upon it. It was twitching slightly, starting to wake.

"What is it, Professor?" Joe asked, unable to take his eyes off of it.

"It's called a Crobat." Professor Oak told him, not taking eyes of the screen.

"A... what?" Joe said.

"The final evolution of the Zubat species." The elderly scientist continued. He turned and saw Joe's confused expression. He chuckled. "I'm not too surprised that you've never heard of them. They're not native to this region, and in the regions were they are native they're exceptionally rare. You never find them in the wilds like this."

"Then what is it doing here?" Joe wondered.

"I don't know." The professor said. Then he gave Joe an excited smile. "Shall we go and see it?"

Joe looked back at him. "Is it safe?"

"It's unconscious at the moment, so it won't pose any danger to either of us." The professor explained. "But if it does wake up and try to attack us I'll give it a quick shot of tranquilizer to calm it down." He gestured towards two wooden doors at the other end of the room. "It's just through there. Let's go see it."

The creature was still asleep when Joe and Professor Oak entered its room, though its twitching suggested that it was starting to regain consciousness. It breathed through its teeth, creating a slight hissing whispering sound. Joe couldn't take his eyes off of it. He hadn't realised how large it was. With its wings folded into its body it was still larger than he was, and even a couple of inches taller than the professor himself. It must have been close to two metres in height, taller than most humans ever grew. Its fangs were protruding slightly from its mouth, their sharp tips visible only slightly from behind its lower lip. Underneath its eyelids Joe could see movement. It could wake up at any second.

He felt uncomfortable and fearful looking at the creature lying in front of him. And yet, in some bizarre way, it looked almost... cute. The fact that it was sleeping at the moment helped that, but while it had been big and intimidating while fighting on the hillside, here it was weak and injured and in a place it didn't belong. To some extent Joe felt that he could relate to it. He, like it, was lost in the world, unsure what he wanted or what he had to do, just wandering in the dark, only to face something that would cause him harm.

"I found this hanging from a string around its neck." The professor told him, picking up something from the desk nearby and showing it to Joe. The thirteen year old boy turned to him. The professor was holding a white orb in his open hand. It had a red line running laterally across it, and upon that line was a white button.

"Is that a..."

"A Poké Ball" The professor finished for him. "And not just your usual red and white Poké Ball either. This is a Premier Ball."

"What's a Premier Ball?" Joe asked, looking at the white orb with interest.

"It's not much more than a normal Poké Ball coloured white." The old professor said. "They're nothing special. You can get them for free when you buy ten or more Poké Balls at a pokémart. Apart from their rarity they don't do anything special." He turned the ball around with his thumb. "This, however, is unusual."

Joe looked. The back of the ball had only a small metal clip and a hang which allowed the upper half of the ball to open up. But that wasn't what the professor was talking about. Peering closer, Joe spotted writing underneath the hinge. Four letters. Wait, no, not letters. They weren't English. Symbols then.

_'Ρ-Α-Λ-Φ'_

"P-A..." Joe read. He stopped at the third symbol, unable to read it. What was that? A dashless _A_? Triangle missing its bottom line? And what was that fourth symbol supposed to be. An _O_ and an _I_ fused together? "I don't know what this means." Joe said after a long and painful attempt to read the symbols.

The professor turned the ball back around and narrowed his eyes in examination of the symbols. "I can only guess at what this is supposed to mean." He said, chewing his lower lip in thought. "Though I can say that these are not English letters."

"What are they then?" Joe asked him.

The professor looked up at him. "They're Greek letters." He said simply.

"Greek?" Joe repeated. What did the Greeks have to do with this Pokémon?

The professor turned the ball back around and pointed at the symbols. "These first two are letters that also exist in the English alphabet." He explained. His finger moved across to the two latter symbols. "However, these two are not. They're the Greek letters Lambda and Phi." Joe looked at Professor Oak in surprise. The professor saw his expression and laughed. "You may not think it, but I know more about the world than just Pokémon related stuff. In English these symbols would represent the letters L and F." His finger moved back to the previous two. "Alpha represents the letter A in both languages, so there's no confusion there. However, in Greek the letter P is not the same as it is in English. Their symbol for P is Pi, but that's not what this means. Assuming that all of these letters are Greek, not a mixture of English and Greek, then this first letter would actually be Rho, the Greek letter R." He held the pokéball up in front of them. "Then these symbols would stand for the letters _'Rho-Alpha-Lambda-Phi'_."

This was all very interesting, but Joe couldn't help but wonder what relevance it had. Sure, the ball had been found attached the Crobat lying unconscious on the bed beside him, but what good did it do them to study these seemingly random symbols so intricately. _'Rho-Alpha-Lambda-Phi'_. What was that supposed to mean? Was it a code of some sort? He translated it into English letters in his mind. '_R-A-L-F'_.

Joe looked up in realisation. "It sounds like a name." He stated aloud.

The professor looked at him, then at the ball, then back at him. "It does a bit." He agreed. "Perhaps that's the owner's name, though I don't know why they would use Greek letters rather than English ones." He paused. "Unless they were Greek, of course."

Joe looked at the large purple bat. It was stirring more now. It must be close to waking.

"Maybe that's its name." He suggested.

Professor Oak turn towards the large Pokémon lying upon the hard white bed. It barely fit onto the piece of furniture. If its wings hadn't been wrapped around its body they would have slid over the side and drooped onto the floor.

"R-A-L-F" The old scientist repeated, letting the letters sit on his tongue. "I can't think of any names made up of just those four letters. I can think of one that's very close to it, though. That's assuming that the letter Phi is used in its more classical sense, representing a PH rather than an F."

Joe did not have much knowledge on the subject of etymology, though thanks to his exposure to human culture and visual media he did know a small book's worth of common and uncommon names. One of those names – which he was certain was the name of some child character on a kids TV show – fit the spelling perfectly.

"Ralph."

The Crobat suddenly sat up, eyes open and wings unfolding. Joe and the professor jumped with a start. The creature had moved so quickly. One second it was lying unconscious upon the bed, the next it was leaning upon its large wings and staring directly at the two present humans. Joe looked into its eyes, and it looked back. Again there was the feeling of understanding. Something clicked in Joe's mind. Simply by looking it in the eyes he felt that he could understand it.

There was a tense moment. Neither the creature nor the two humans in front of it were sure if the other would attack. Both parties were prepared for this result, yet neither were moving. Samuel Oak had a hand upon a blue Poké Ball hanging from the inside of his coat, aiming to unleash whatever was stored inside it if he had to. The Crobat itself was its left wing raised in front of its face, the narrow bony ridge pointing outward from its body. Joe was the only one not preparing to defend himself, and that was largely because he had nothing to defend himself with. With the sudden panic he couldn't even lift a leg to step away.

Though the bat's eyes were looking now at the professor, its attention seemed focused upon the teenager. It kept shifting its gaze back to him, its jaw moving slightly and its ears swivelling.

Only a few seconds had passed, still they were tense. It took some effort to relax afterwards. It seemed that the creature, no matter how large or dangerous it seemed, was not going to attack them if they did not attack it. It was merely aiming to defend itself, most likely afraid and confused and lost. That was what Joe had seen in its eyes at the very least. He couldn't blame it for feeling that way. Though he knew where he was, he didn't feel any more comfortable or secure because of that. The events of the previous night had left him in an uncertain stupor.

The Crobat was looking at Joe once more, its eyes keenly fixated upon his face. Joe felt slightly uncomfortable. It was as if the creature was reading him, examining his details. He tried not to meet its gaze.

"What set it off then?" The professor wondered. "Did you do anything to disturb it?"

"No..." Joe blustered, "I don't think I did. I just said that name... Ralph."

The Crobat's eyes widened slightly. Its attention became keener. Its ears twitched slightly and it adjusted its weight with its wings.

Joe looked at it, a chuckled slightly. The Crobat looked back at him and blinked a few times. "Is that your name?" He asked it. Slowly, cautiously, he pointed a finger at the creature. Instantly its large yellow eyes turned downward, staring at the finger. Quickly Joe pulled it away, afraid that he might get it bitten off.

"Don't antagonize it." The professor warned. "Though it has a Poké Ball, it's doesn't seem especially tame."

Joe lowered his arm. The professor was right of course. Though it might seem benign fright now, any small action could anger it. It was a wild animal after all. He had been stupid enough to run out stand in its way already. He didn't need to end up with any further injuries.

But then something happened that surprised them both. The Crobat slowly raised a wing, extended it forwards till the skin was stretched to its full length, and gently placed the tip against the centre of Joe's chest. Joe was rather astonished by this, but it had been such a calm and tender action that he hadn't felt scared at all. The wing tip pressed so lightly into his hoodie that he barely felt it. Slowly it moved up, touched the outline of a gash. Joe looked back at the creatures eyes and saw in them pity and sorrow. It seemed regretful that he had been hurt in trying to protect it. Joe wasn't sure how to respond to this, and in that uncertainty he chose to copy the action. He reached out an arm and slowly, gently placed a finger underneath the wound beneath the Crobat's right wing. It winced very slightly, but showed no sign of annoyance or displeasure.

Joe laughed. It was a strange rush of emotion that made him laugh. A mixture of surprise, amazement, admiration and joy. He was having this unusual exchange with a Pokémon, an exchange he had never had before, not even with his pet or the other farm Pokémon.

He pointed his other hand to his own chest, against the bat's wing. "I'm Joe." He said.

The Crobat nodded. _'Crrrrro'_ it said.

Now Joe turned his finger towards the bat. "You are Ralph?" He said.

Again the Crobat nodded _'Croooo' _it said.

"This is incredible!" The professor murmured with astonishment. "I've met many different types of people and Pokémon, and I've seen many different friendships between the two, but this is the first time I've ever seen anything quite like this."

Joe was only half paying attention to him. He was still amazed at the strange connection he had just made with this creature. He felt as if he had spoken to it, not just with his voice but with his soul. It no longer seemed large or threatening to him. Instead it seemed like an old friend, someone he had known his entire life and trusted deeply. He didn't know why he felt this way, but it was clear that the creature felt the same way.

"Its moments like this that make my job so worthwhile." The professor continued. This time his words got Joe's attention. "There's something very moving about the moment where humans and Pokémon come to understand each other. I think, master green, that you've made a friend.

"A friend...?" Joe repeated. With a Pokémon? He had never had that before. Even Blitz hadn't had this effect on him. Blitz was his pet, but a pet and a friend are not completely the same thing. Pets have to be cared for. Friends, however, were there to help you too. Was that what he had just found in this Pokémon? What was he supposed to do now? Was he supposed to take it in?

"Your uncle is waiting for you in the lobby." Professor Oak suddenly interrupted. "I forgot to mention that earlier. He's been waiting for the last few hours. You should go out and tell him you're alright."

Joe turned back to the professor. His mouth was open but he could not find any words to say. What could he have said? The shock and astonishment at these resent events had overloaded his brain. The minimum he could do was walk, stand, breath and follow instructions. He stepped away from the bed, the bat's wingtip sliding down his chest. His own hand pulled away from the creature's chest.

"Yeah." He agreed weakly. "Professor?"

"Yes?"

"What does this mean?" Joe rubbed the side of his head, his thoughts a confused muddle. "What should I do about this?"

"I can't tell you what this means." The professor told him with a small smile of confidence. "At the end of the day, you must decide that for yourself."

Joe was only left more confused by that. Why did adults have to be so vague all the time? Obediently he turned to the door and left the room.

* * *

Walker Green was sat upon a soft red foam bench in the laboratories entrance lobby. He was not alone either. Korma was also there, curled up at his uncle's feet, resting with his eyes open. Blitz was also there, snuggled up and snoozing on his uncle's lap.

Joe gulped as he saw him. He knew that he was in trouble, and he wasn't looking forward to the punishment his uncle would dish out. A parental figure did not need violence or anger to provide repercussions. His uncle was very capable of doing that with just a few words.

The moment the young teenager walked into the room his eyes met with that of the greying haired man. Walker Green stood up, dropping Blitz onto the ground. The Growlithe puppy yelped with surprise and shook his head vigorously. He only took three steps in total, but the strides were so long that he reached Joe in only a moment. Uncle and Nephew stood before each other, one with a sorry expression, the other with a stern glare.

"I don't know what to say to you." Walker said after a few uncomfortable seconds had floated by.

"I'm sorry." Joe muttered remorsefully.

"What were you thinking, running out like that into the dark, without protection, without a Pokémon to defend you, without assistance, without telling me?!"

"I don't know." Joe admitted pitifully. He lowered his head, ashamed.

"Did you even consider what might have happened to you?"

"No."

"Did you think of how I might have felt if you had died?"

"No."

"Why did you do it then?"

Joe looked up slowly. He was trying not to cry. He snivelled slightly, rubbing his eyes. "Because... it felt right." He quietly stated.

His uncle was continued to glare at him for a few second after. And then he hugged him. He embraced his tightly in his arms and squeezed him like a boa constrictor.

"Joseph Green, you insane boy!" He exclaimed, his voice breaking. Joe could hear the choking in his voice, feel the tears falling against his shoulder. His uncle was crying. "You're just like you father! Running head first into danger to save some random Pokémon! What were you thinking?"

Joe could feel his ribs bending in his uncle's grip. He was struggling to breathe. But despite the discomfort and the pain, he managed to slip his arms out from the tight bind of his Uncle's hug and wrap them around him in return.

"Did you know I had left?" Joe asked him, unable to stop the tears falling.

"I heard you moving around." Walker told him quietly. "Then I heard the front door close, and I saw you running out into the dark through a window. You're absolutely mad!" He placed his forehead on his nephew's shoulder. "But at least you're not that badly hurt."

"Your nephew managed to do something pretty impressive." Professor Oak stated from beside them. He had followed Joe out of the lab to meet with his uncle. "Reckless, sure, but still impressive. I'd say it was a risk worth the danger. He saved the life of a lost Pokémon." He put his hands together and clenched the fingers around each palm. "Not only that, he brought to light a very unusual mystery.

Uncle and nephew slowly broke their embrace. Walker turned to the professor, gratitude in his eyes. "Thank you, Sam."

"Least I could do." The old professor told him. "Since we don't have an official medical station in town I had to do the best I could with some antidote and a strips of cloth. He'll be fully recovered in a few days at most."

"What's this about a mystery?" Walker continued, now looking curious.

"It's about the Pokémon that Joe here rescued." He reached a hand into his jacket and pulled out the white Premier Ball, holding it up for the middle-aged farmer to see. This was found hanging from a string upon it's body." Samuel Oak explained.

"A poke ball?" Walker said in surprise. "So, it's an owned Pokémon?"

"I don't think so." The professor told him. "At least, not any more. Before walking out here I attempted to withdraw it back inside the ball." Sam Oak twisted his lips. "It didn't work."

"In what way?"

"I think the ball might be broken in some way. Perhaps the Pokémon was released by its owner but left with the ball's shell as a parting gift? Or perhaps it was never meant to work in the first place." He pressed the switch, and the ball opened up. The top half snapped open, revealing the interior. Joe had never seen the interior of a Poké Ball before.

"That is odd." His uncle said.

"What is?" Joe asked.

"Poké Balls are supposed to have interior tech in order to capture and keep a Pokémon inside." Walker explained. "When a wild Pokémon is hit by a pokéball, the ball converts it into energy and stores it within. While inside the Pokémon is kept comfortable and cared for with a self-constructed environment. They can then be transported around inside the poké ball and released from it when the trainer who owns it requires." He pointed now at the hollow interior. "But this poke ball has none of that tech. You couldn't catch, store or transport any Pokémon in this. It's just a shell, and nothing else."

Indeed the interior of the ball was nothing more than a white cavity. There was no sign of anything technological within, just the spherical shape of the ball itself.

"So then the mystery is why does this Pokémon have a broken Poké ball with it?" Walker realised.

"That's half of the question." The professor agreed. "The other half is what this means." He turned the ball around and showed Joe and his Uncle the Greek letters marked just beneath the hinge.

"That is very strange." Walker agreed. "I can't even begin to guess."

"Joe suggested that it was a name." Professor Oak told him. "Rho-Alpha-Lambda-Phi. Using English letters that would spell out the name Ralph."

_'Cro?'_

The three of them turned. The Crobat was floating in the hallway, half protruding from the door to the laboratory. Korma immediately started to growl at it, warning it to stay back.

"Would that be the Pokémon in question?" Walker asked, having not seen the creature in full light till now.

"That's it." Joe told him.

It approached them, cautious of the arcanine that was still glaring and growling at it. Joe was impressed by how unconcerned it now seemed to be with the three humans, which quite contrasted its behaviour when had first awoken. All that confusion and fear had seemingly faded away.

"That thing is called Ralph?" Walker said, chuckling at the idea. The Crobat instantly turned its gaze to him.

"It certainly recognises the name." Professor Oak agreed. "Whether that's the name it was given or the name of its owner, I think we'll be calling it that for the moment.

"Well, I hope you can solve this odd mystery and find its owner." Walker told him, reaching back to the foam seat and picking up his green jacket.

Professor Oak raised a finger. "Actually I wanted to talk to your nephew about that."

Joe blinked. "Me?" He said, hesitant of what was about to be asked.

"It's has come to my attention that you were planning to become a Pokémon trainer today." The professor said.

Joe gritted his teeth. He had forgotten all about that. Now he couldn't escape the matter. He had literally been carried here unconscious.

"Yeah." He said with an uncertain groan. That was completely the truth, but knowing his uncle he would do everything he could to make this happen. The professor seemed just about it.

"Though your uncle has told me that you're uncertain about the idea.

"Yeah." Joe repeated, much more honestly and assertively this time.

"That's only to be expected." Professor Oak told him sympathetically. "A lot of young people are nervous about that idea." He flexed his finger excitedly. "But, because of recent events, I've come up with an idea that might help you get started."

Joe dreaded what that idea might be. He doubted he would like it.

"Okay." He sad uncertainly.

He expect the professor to follow up with a long discussion or an explanation, as his uncle would often do. Perhaps he would try to offer Joe some sort of gadget or a rare Pokémon to encourage him to get going. The professor held out an arm, and into Joe's open hand he dropped the white coloured poke ball. Joe looked at it, and then back up at the professor.

"That's yours now." Professor Oak told him with an encouraging smile.

"I don't understand." Joe said. "Why are you giving this to me?"

"I thought you might have guessed." The old professor told him. "I want you to take this Crobat with you."

Joe's mouth fell open. His eyes widened. "What?" He exclaimed loudly.

"You needn't be so surprised." The professor laughed. "It was you who rescued it after all, and the two of you seemed to be getting along well in the lab just now. I thought that, out of the three of us, you were best suited to caring for it until we can find its original owner."

"But... I..." Joe stammered. He looked from the professor to his uncle. Both of them seemed to really like the idea. Joe was not as keen. "I don't know anything about being a trainer" I can't care for that thing!"

"I'm sure you'll figure it out as you go along." Professor Oak reassured him. "Anyways, I'm not asking you to hold on to him for long. There's a museum in Pewter City to the north. A friend of mine works there. He studies palaeontology and cryptography, he might be able to figure out what those Greek letters are supposed to mean. On top of that, he works alongside the police in helping to recover lost and abandoned Pokémon. Our purple friend here will be able to find his original owner there. All I need you to do is take him to that museum. Can you do that, Joe?"

Joe was very uncomfortable with this. He didn't want to be forced into doing something as demanding as this. Though neither his uncle nor the professor were telling him to go out and become a masterful trainer with this Crobat in tow, the fact that he would have to travel several across many miles and through several town and cities to get there was causing him serious anxiety. He wasn't ready for that, he just wasn't.

"Professor Oak... I don't know if..." He stuttered nervously.

"If it proves to challenging you can come back to me and I'll do it instead." Walker told him. "But I think you should at least try first. Remember what I said to you yesterday? You can't stay cooped up at home forever. Eventually you'll have to leave the nest, and today should be that day."

Joe clenched his fists, sweating. How could he argue with them? They had already decided for him. But he didn't want this. He wanted to go home and forget that this had ever happened. Then he saw the Crobat floating nearby, looking lost and alone. Their eyes met once more, and in that moment Joe was reminded of everything he had already done for it. He had saved it from a swarm of Beedrill, risking his own life in the process. He had done that without thought. It already seemed that he and the creature had a connection of some sort. Perhaps he was the best person to take care of it. Perhaps if he were to travel with it the journey wouldn't be so tough. He knew nothing about being a trainer, but if this bat was at his side then perhaps he didn't need to worry about that. A new confidence was starting to well within him. Suddenly the fear of being alone in the world felt less present. For the first time in his life, Joe was starting to feel capable.

"Okay." He muttered quietly. "I'll do it."

"Good man!" The professor exclaimed. "You'd best get going as soon as possible. It's already half past eight, so you have a whole day ahead of you still."

"Mmm." Joe groaned. Though he was trying to act more sure of himself he was finding it difficult.

"I've brought your bag with me." Walker Green told him, lifting up a black rucksack with yellow stripe patterns on its sides. Joe took it. It was heavy, and the two shoulder straps pulled tightly upon his arms. "I've packed it with clothes, food, water, medical supplies, sleeping gear, cooking gear, a few health potions and a couple of Poké Balls." His uncle explained further "There's also some money in there in case you need to resupply. There's usually a mart in every town, so you just need to go there and buy some more of whatever you need."

"Mmm." Joe said.

"Oh, and take this." The professor interrupted, handing Joe a piece of flat rectangular plastic. Joe took it in his already overwhelmed arms. It had the words 'Trainer ID' printed in black at the top, and beneath that was a load of information, culminating in a photo of Joe, his full name, his home address and a strong of numbers that made up the Trainer ID Code. This was what signified him as an official Pokémon trainer. He wasn't sure how to feel about that. It was yet another thing that had been thrust upon him against his will.

"All set then?" Walker Green asked, his hands upon his hips, looking at his nephew impressed.

"Hmm." Joe said.

Walker was starting to realise that Joe was not as excited as he was. "If you need to get in touch with me, just use this." His uncle handed Joe a small grey flip phone. With a half-full hand Joe took it. On it he could see only two registered numbers, one listed as Walker Green, the other as Samuel Oak. "If you ever need help from the professor or I, just ring us and we'll do what we can to assist you. I'll also ring you every now and then to check up on you, okay?"

"Okay." Joe said weakly.

His uncle put a hand under his chin. "Smile, buddy." He said warmly. "I believe in you. Now you need to start believing in yourself.

Joe sighed nervously. "I'll try, Uncle Walker."

Walker Green let go of his nephew. "Okay." He said with a small smile. "Of you go then... Out into the big wide world.

Joe stepped out of the laboratory, into the orange dawn sun. From the tall hill he could see Pallet Town surrounding him, its small stone homes, farms and fields. The path that led away from the lab went north, beyond the town, out into the region of Kanto. Joe would have to follow it now. He wasn't keen on doing so, and given a choice he would simply go home, but he didn't have a choice any more. He couldn't just turn back at tell his uncle and the professor that he would not do their errands for them. They would probably hear none of it. Even so, he tried to focus upon the positives. He would be out in the open air, which as much as he liked been at the farm he did enjoy being outside as well. Perhaps the journey wouldn't be so arduous or dangerous. He wasn't expected to travel the entire region, just to Pewter City and back. So long as he followed the road north he probably wouldn't get lost. There was also his companion, the mysterious Crobat, the creature he had rescued that night. At that moment it flew up beside him, squinting in the harsh light. It seemed just as unsure about the journey ahead, but something about that made Joe feel a little more comfortable. As ridiculous as it might sound to admit, he believed that he was safe with this Pokémon by his side. Perhaps it felt the same way about him.

From the doorway behind him Joe could see his uncle and the professor watching them, waiting for them to take the first step away from home. Blitz came running out of the doorway, sensing that something was happening. He jumped up at Joe's leg and pawed at his jeans. Joe chuckled and knelt down.

"I can't bring you with me." He said with a nervous chuckle. "You're still a puppy. I can't expect you to keep me safe out there." It hurt to say it. He would much rather rake Blitz with him, but he had already had that discussion with his uncle before. The little Growlithe was barely a month old, and it would take a couple of months more before he would have grown enough to be capable of battling and protecting him. Right now he could barely take care of himself.

Blitz's ears drooped sadly. His tail stopped wagging and he let out a pestering whimper.

Joe stroked his head. "Stop it. I'll be back soon. You'll barely notice that I'm gone."

He could see the stares of the Crobat floating beside him. It was looking down at Blitz, seemingly confused by his relationship with Joe. Blitz stared back at it, an barked in warning. That made the Crobat jump slightly.

"Alright." Joe said, trying to encourage himself. He knew that his uncle was still watching him. He was right, it was time he left home. "Come on, Ralph." He said.

The Crobat heard the name and looked at him expectantly. Joe smiled at it. It blinked back, and attempted to adjust its lips into a similar grin. The result was a rather menacing display of fangs. Joe shook his head at it. This was the partner he had been gifted for his trip. He couldn't help but feel that he was in for an unusual journey.

"Let's get going." He stated.

Together the boy and the bat left Pallet Town, with the morning sun rising steadily upon the eastern horizon. Ahead of them was the Kanto Region. This was their first step into it.


	5. Update and Explanation

**This is a very unusual decision for me.**

**Usually I do not decide to go back to a project I worked on and finished a long time ago, and when I do it's to update and improve that work. I have not before decided to completely restart and rework something this big.**

**If you are not aware, The Crobat Chronicles was the first story I posted onto this website. I worked on it and its sequel throughout 2014, 2015 and 2016, and since then I have not touched it. However, i have thought of writing a further story for the series or other short stories relating to it. Then, while working on my current project - Quirkless - I found myself thinking about this story again, about the amount of time and work I had spent on it and the memories I had of writing it. Though reminiscing about the past isn't the same as going back to it. Upon rereading this series I realised that I've grown a lot as a writer, and made improvements for the better. A lot of what was in the original story wasn't very good, in terms of writing style, ability and plot. It was a sort of adventure that I made up as I went along, which is a style I have not tried since for good reason. **

**However, the fact that I had enjoyed writing it reminded me of how precious that concept was to me, which was why I wrote it in the first place. ****Pokémon**** is one of my favorite videogame franchises, largely for nostalgic reasons nowadays. I started wanting to recapture that feeling, as for a while I've been feeling that I was stagnating. So I started going back over this story, looking at the plot points, characters, team members and world-building I had _attempted_ to fit into it, and then I began thinking off how to improve it. Over the last few months that process evolved into a rewrite of the first chapter, which evolved into a retelling of the entire story in itself, down to the bare bones.**

**That is the purpose of this story. I will be retelling the story I had created with the Crobat Chronicles, updating it and improving its overall quality in the hopes that other people can enjoy it instead of just myself. Because I'm a maniac who over-analyses everything, I'm aiming to expand the detail, themes and character progression in this version of the story. The protagonists won't just be altruistic heroes, the villains won't just be psychopathic criminals, the ****Pokémon ****on each person's team won't just be a tool with a moves list attached to it. Everything will have a place and relevance, as it should in any other story.**

**At this moment I am not planing to delete the original stories for this one to completely take its place. That story was an important part of my life that helped me develop my talents as a writer, and I'm sure there are followers of mine who really enjoyed reading it. Some of you may ultimately prefer it to this one, and I understand and respect that. But for my own sake I want to attempt to rewrite it, to prove that I can do better with that sort of a story. I want to apply what I know now to a story I once worked so hard on, to create a story I can be even more proud of. These first three chapters will be representing that attempt, and hopefully, if I don't forget about it or run out of ideas, I'll keep updating more chapters to keep it going.**

**I am not planning to add the three stories I wrote to this one. At the moment I am only planing to rewrite the first one, with additions that elude or include aspects of the other two stories. I will be working on this alongside my other current works, and since both are planned to be long and detailed works the chances are it will become very tough to update both. Right now Quirkless had most of my attention, but I will update to this story when I can. I don't currently have a chapter plan as I do for Quirkless, but I know for certain that it will be longer than the original 40 chapters. That seemed like a lot when I was younger, but sadly it's no where near enough for the amount of detail I aim to add to this story. These three chapters came from the first chapter of the original story, so that alone should suggest how much I'm planning to expand. **

**I think that's all I have to say about this for now. I may not upload a new chapter for a while, but if people are keen to see more I may focus more time on this story instead. For now I hope that what I have added has entertained you. Keep on reading, and I'll keep on writing.**

**Catch ya later!**


	6. Chapter 4 - The First Step

They say that the first step of the journey is often the toughest. Joe hadn't understood just what that meant until now. It wasn't that the road ahead of him was dangerous or long or arduous. The strain of that first step came not from the road ahead but from the road behind. He was about to leave everything he knew behind; the home he had grown up in, the comfort he had felt there, the security he had found for himself. Ahead of him was none of that, just a future that was yet to happen. He had so many reasons to turn back, but only one to go forward. With so many chains dragging him towards his old life he had to muster a lot of strength to break them. Pokémon

Conflicting desires did battle in his brain. He wanted to return to the life he knew before it was too late to go back. Once he was out there in the world he couldn't return to that same comforting environment, not as it once had been. Yet he had made a promise to his uncle, to the professor, but more importantly to his new companion. The Crobat looked at him with equal nervousness. In was only then that he reminded himself that he did have a choice, whereas this lonesome Pokémon did not? It had to go, and if Joe didn't go with it then someone else would. He still had to repay it for saving his life, and likewise it had to repay him for saving its. If not for that debt, Joe would have turned back. Instead he chose to pull against the chains holding him back, and leave the comfort of his home. He took a step forwards and walked the road out of Pallet Town.

"Remember to call me regularly." His uncle called after him from the edge of the town.

"And give me a shout once you reach Pewter City." The Professor Added from beside him.

Joe glanced back at them, his nerves rising up into his stomach. He wanted to throw up, but he swallowed down the anxious bile. He continued his walk from Pallet Town, with Ralph the accompanying crobat at his side.

They didn't pay much attention to the environment as they walked, their eyes fixed upon the dawn horizon, so they didn't notice the vast fields around them, the stone path under their feet and wings, the grass which grew tall at its edges, the birds that sang from the trees, the rodents that hid within the brush. They hardly seemed to notice each other. They didn't speak for most of that first leg of their journey. In truth it was hard for a young boy to know what to say to a large, purple coloured, four-winged bat creature.

"So... Ralph..." He tried. The bat looked at him alertly. Joe gulped. "Are you... well?" He asked. The creature looked at him, confused. "I mean... are you... comfortable... travelling with me?"

Ralph blinked a few times, then looked away, his eyes shifting uncertainly. Joe wasn't sure what this was supposed to mean. Was this reaction implying a yes or a no? Was it supposed to imply that it was unsure?

Joe decided to drop his first question and instead ask one slightly more pressing and personal. He could see the mark of a wound upon the lower left side of the Crobat's body, where a Beedrill's stinger had struck it.

"Does it hurt?" He asked.

The Crobat looked back at him, and its eyes followed his to look down at the bruise. It shook its head slowly. Joe sighed, relieved. It could understand and respond to him after all. That was good. It meant that their conversation was not totally one sided. Perhaps it was capable of explaining where it had come from, and what it had been doing at the edge of Pallet Town. Joe decided to ask it just that.

"Last night, why were you by yourself on that hill?" He said to the creature.

The Crobat that had been named Ralph looked at him again, it's piercing yellow eyes wide and aglow in the dawn sunlight. There was a pause before it answered.

_'Crooo' _It declared.

Joe stared back. Again he wasn't sure what this was supposed to mean, if it was indeed supposed to mean anything and was not just a random sound that the creature had uttered.

"Can you... expand on that?" He inquired.

Ralph paused, and came up with a response. _'Crooooo... cro cro crooo cro cro-bat. Crooo cro-bat cro.'_

Joe nodded. "I see." He said, not having understood anything the creature was trying to say. Perhaps he had been asking too much this early into their relationship. At the very least he had managed to get the Pokémon to communicate with him, but now the problem was understanding it. If he couldn't figure out what it was trying to say then he would have to hope that whoever he was meeting in Pewter City could.

They travelled together for an hour or two, following the path out of Pallet Town and headed north. Upon several wooden signposts they passed they could see words dictating where they were. _'Route 1. Pallet Town: South, 10 Miles. Viridian City: North, 10 Miles.' _They were halfway to the next city, and yet so close to home. Joe could still feel the tug of those chains that tried to pull him back. By this point it was too late. He had already started walking. He couldn't stop and turn back now.

He persevered on, with the crobat in tow. Joe was surprised that it didn't try to run away or escape him. If it did there wasn't much he could do to stop it. For some reason it never tried anything like that. Did it feel as strongly about the matter as he did? Was it following him because it felt it owed him a debt, or because it was curious to know about itself as well? Already Joe was beginning to feel a small bond forming between them. At the moment it was thread thin and constructed only of a basic, simplistic, earned trust. If he wanted to, Joe could nurture it into a true bond of friendship. He was not sure that was the best idea. He had to deliver this Pokémon to another town. If he formed too strong a bond with it before then he would struggle to let it go.

As midday arrived the two of them walked up a hillside to see below them a wooded valley. Near the base of the hillside was Viridian City. Although it was a larger settlement than Pallet, Viridian was by no means a massive city. White brick buildings with wooden rooves were dotted almost randomly about the place, connected together by asphalt roads. Each building was spread out with enough space for a crowd of around fifty to a hundred people to squeeze between. Some of these buildings were several storeys tall, and loomed over the smaller structures around them with massive shadows. Around the whole settlement was a forest, trees so densely placed that the barest specks of light made the journey through their impenetrable leaves. Considering its surroundings the city seemed rather open and welcoming, as if offering travellers a place to rest and relax before attempting to plunge into the surrounding undergrowth.

This was only one stop on his journey however. Pewter City was still beyond here. He would have to continue on, bypassing this countryside city and head into the forest beyond it. The thought of stepping into those trees made his hair prickle. He had always been taught to stay out of such places because of the wild Pokémon that lived there, and after his recent encounter he wasn't keen to have another so soon.

"The first step." He muttered, trying to encourage himself. He turned to Ralph, hoping that it – he – might help. The crobat blinked back at him, not sure what he wanted. Joe sighed. "Well, standing here isn't going to solve anything." He decided. "Like Uncle Walker said... I have to spread my wings eventually."

He took that first step, into a new city and a new part of the region. From here on out his journey had properly begun. Leaving Pallet town was the shove, entering Viridian City was the landing. And as his foot fell upon new ground he unwittingly started the first of his ordeals.

With recent rainfall the soft earth of the hillside had grown loose and slippery. Joe's foot landed in a patch of soft mud, moved half an inch further than he had intended, and suddenly he was descending forward.

He barely had time to scream before he started to roll down the hill. What came out of his mouth was an abrupt series of _oofs_ and _ouches_ with each impact into the slanted ground. In a desperate attempt to help in any way he could, Ralph flew after him. He managed to get ahead of Joe, and propped himself in the way, preparing to halt the rolling boy. Unfortunately Ralph had forgotten that he was still airborne, and so when the weight of the falling teenager impacted into him he was able to do little more than grab onto him. Joe pulled him down with him, and together the boy and the crobat fell down the hillside, rolling through the mud and the grass in their descent to the bottom of the hill.

There might have been more embarrassing ways to start an adventure, but Joe couldn't think of any. It wouldn't have been so bad if it was just him and Ralph who had been caught up in that accident. However, it seemed that luck was not on his side.

At the bottom of the hill, sat beside a small clear blue pond, was a girl with bright orange hair. She had been attempting to fish in the pond, a long metal rod propped between her hands and knees which extended a line towards a circular bait bobbing upon the water's surface. The bob had sunk beneath the surface, and the line had begun to twitch, spurring the girl to start reeling it in. But while she was fighting to pull in her catch she failed to notice the ball of boy and bat rolling rapidly downhill towards her. As she was making a final sharp tug at the line to lift out her catch, the ball hit her, knocking the rod out of her hands and into the water. Suddenly another random and unknown person was caught up in the incident, and together the three entangled bodies continued down the final metres of sloping hill.

They eventually stopped beside the base of a tree, and unfurled into their proper shape. Joe lay gasping and wincing with his arms and legs spread wide, staring up at the branches and leaves hanging over him. He could feel a great weight upon his chest, as well as something attempting to squirm out from underneath him. It was then upon looking down that he noticed the girl which he had rushed into. She was lying flat upon his chest, her legs propped in the air and her face buried in the grass. The green parker coat she was wearing pressed into his ribs, crushing his lungs and making it hard to breath. A sharp spark of anxious embarrassment spread across his neurons. He shoved the girl off him, forcing her rather rigid body to roll off his chest and onto the soft grass. Now she was lying face up, looking towards the sky.

Her eyes sharply turned downwards, caught sight of him, and in an instant the dazes expression she was wearing contorted into anger.

"What the hell!" She yelled.

Joe could hardly speak due to his rapped descent and sharp stop, but even if he could he had no words to say. The girl was already up onto her feet, wiping mud and grass off her green coloured shorts while still glaring at him.

"What do you think you're doing, crashing into me like that?! You could've seriously hurt someone!"

Joe considered for a moment respond with a witty retort like _'yeah, me!'_, but that wouldn't have helped the situation. He certainly felt pain though. His back was aching, not helped by whatever he was lying on top off, and the wound upon his chest had started thudding again. The fall must have reopened the Beedrill' wound. He looked down at his chest, saw a tiny speck of red start to form upon the surface. He hadn't realised that the hole the attack had created had been stitched back up. The professor must have done that while he was unconscious. Now his blood was starting to turn it red.

"S-sorry." Joe muttered awkwardly, not meeting the girl's eyes. "I... I didn't mean to... I tripped." He hurriedly tried to excuse himself, attempting to push himself onto his feet, but whatever was underneath him was still squirming and making it difficult to find his balance.

_'Croooo!'_ Ralph groaned in a muffled voice.

Joe sharply realised what it was he was lying on. "Oh god!" He explained, rolling off the bat and sharply standing up. "Sorry, Ralph, sorry... sorry!"

The crobat looked up at him. He was lying as flat as a pancake upon the earth, the grass underneath him squashed into the mud. His wings were crumped yet spread wide and his ears were drooping weakly. The fall had injured him more than it had the other two. Thankfully he didn't seem to be angry at Joe, which spared him from feeling too guilty about what had happened to him. Still, he had to get him help and quickly.

"I need to get you some help." Joe told him, kneeling down and sliding his arms underneath the large purple bat. He attempted to lift him up, something he had not yet tried, and learn right then just how heavy his companion actually was. He seemed so light when he was flying, as if his body was made of cotton or fluff. In fact he was so heavy that Joe could hardly carry him. With some effort he managed to stand up with the injured crobat lying in his arms, wings hanging limply towards the ground.

"Hold up," The girl snapped at him. "What about me? Because of you I lost my catch, and probably my fishing rod too. You're not even going to apologise for that?"

"I said sorry." Joe told her, not intending to be rude but focusing more upon the more urgent matter of finding Ralph medical help. "I need to get him to a doctor. Is there a hospital nearby?"

The girl was staring at him now, as if he had said something stupid. Joe wasn't sure what he had said or done to deserve that look, and as much as he tried to apologise this girl didn't seem interested in accepting it.

"You're taking it to a human hospital?" She inquired, puzzled by the suggestion. "Dude, just go to the Pokémon Centre already! Put him back in his Poké Ball and run there!"

Joe now returned the puzzled look. "Pokémon Centre? What's that?"

He would never forget the look that she gave him. That dumbfounded stare which would have been complemented by a dropping jaw. The land was so quiet that they could hear only the wind blowing through the branches and through their hair.

"Are you dumb?" She asked in rhetorical mockery. "You're a Pokémon trainer, yes? How long have you been training for?"

Joe supposed that since he was travelling with a Pokémon he must be a Pokémon trainer now, albeit one with a very unusual relationship to his Pokémon.

"About three to four hours." He responded after a several seconds of calculation.

Still the girl was staring at him, somehow even more dumbfounded than before.

"You mean to say you've just started out as a trainer..." She exclaimed, "...and you're travelling with that thing?" She pointed at Ralph, who had since fallen unconscious. "That thing there is your starter?"

"Does it matter?" Joe snapped back, starting to lose patience. He couldn't stand around talking with an angry young woman while Ralph was suffering. He had a promise to keep and a debt to repay, he couldn't do that if Ralph was too injured to travel. "Will the people at this Pokémon Centre be able to help him?"

"Yes." The girl responded sharply and rudely. "The place is built for Pokémon care and support. They have nurses who will look after him."

"Where is it?" Joe insisted.

"Only a few blocks from the southern edge of town." The girl continued, this time a little less rudely. "It's the building with the orange roof... Hey!"

Joe ran off, cradling Ralph's limp body in his tired but stable arms. His footfalls made his body tilt, creating a rocking effect that stirred Ralph from his unconsciousness.

"Thanks, and sorry!" Joe called back as he sprinted into the city. The instructions he had been given weren't especially descriptive or direct, but they would do. It shouldn't be too difficult to find a building with an orange roof after all.

The girl picked up her black and white backpack, which had fallen from her body as she landed, and followed after him. "Come back here! You've still not apologised!"


	7. Chapter 5 - How To Be A Trainer

The doors to the Pokémon Centre slid open, and Joe skidded in upon its polished floor, Ralph limp in his arms. He had never been inside one of these buildings before. There had not been one in Pallet Town, though most people knew that any tired trainer looking for a place to rest their Pokémon could do so at the professor's lab. It felt rather intimidating to stand in that large hall, staring forwards at the orange walls and the long front desk sat directly opposite the door. He wasn't sure what to expect from such a place.

He had expected it to be busy, and indeed it was, but the sheer size of that reception gave the illusion that it was barely occupied. Upon various types of soft cushioned seats and pillows sat waiting Pokémon trainers, in conversational huddles or alone with their heads in their hands. A few Pokémon also wondered around the centre, some of which Joe recognised, others he had never seen before. It seemed most of these Pokémon belonged to the trainers, but a few of them would wonder back and forth from the desk to several doors which lead into backrooms. Occasionally they would return with a nurse or carrying equipment, pillows or clothing in their hands, limbs or mouths.

The moment he entered, almost sliding off his feet on the polished floor, all eyes turned towards him. He hadn't intended to enter so dramatically, but he was driven by concern. Ralph felt so frail and limp in his arms. For a few seconds he feared that his new companion had passed away.

He continued running, making it all the way to the front desk in a matter of seconds, only to be greeted by the concerned stare of the nurse behind it.

"Good Afternoon, welcome to the Viridian Pokemon Centre. How can I-."

"Please help!" Joe gasped, reaching the counter and almost sliding into it. His feet skidded across the polished floor and he almost fell backwards onto his bottom. "My friend! He's hurt! Please, help him!"

"Woah, calm down!" The nurse exclaimed, holding out her hands to stop him from sliding into the counter and hitting his head. She tried to retain a calm and soothing voice, attempting to calm the distressed boy down. "What happened?"

Joe suddenly froze. He didn't know what to tell her. The truth behind how he had been injured was embarrassing, but he would have to admit to it in order to get Ralph help. Then again, if he admitted to accidentally crushing his companion would the nurse judge him for it? Surely no other trainers made that sort of a blunder.

"I... tripped..." Joe began, his throat becoming dry. "And... I sort off... fell on him..."

The nurse looked confused. "You _fell_ on him?" She repeated.

"Yeah." Joe agreed awkwardly. "It wasn't intentional, but... I fell on him." He paused to inhale deeply, trying to ignore the nurse's bewildered look. He began to plead with her. "Please, do something to help him! I didn't mean to hurt him! Surely you can do something!"

"Okay, but you need to stay calm." The nurse hushed in a gentle voice. Simply hearing it was already making the man flee from Joe's heart. "Lay him down on the counter for me."

Joe did as he was told. Once the unconscious Crobat lay in front of her, the nurse began inspecting its body. She lifted his large wings and inspected the joints, opened his eyes with gentle fingers and shined a light into them, checked his teeth, listened to his heartbeat, and finally lay him gently back down onto the table.

"He's not seriously injured at least." She explained, breaking the tense silence. "None of his bones seem to be damaged, there doesn't seem to be any internal bruising or bleeding anywhere. Perhaps a few bruises on his skin, but not much else. He should recover after a short rest."

Joe sharply relaxed, and almost fell over as the muscles in his legs gave up underneath him. He thanked whatever greater being had been watching over him for making sure that his newly made friend was unharmed by his clumsiness. He could only imagine what Professor Oak or his uncle would have said if Ralph had been really badly hurt by this. He didn't imagine that Ralph had much nice to say about it either.

"We'll keep him for a couple of hours, to let him rest and regain consciousness. Once he's awake we'll call for you." The nurse waved a hand for one of the other pink haired nurses to join her. "We can heal your other Pokémon if you need." The same nurse offered with a friendlier smile.

"I don't have any other Pokémon." Joe said immediately.

Again the nurse looked surprised. She looked back down at the bat, which was now being moved onto a stretched by the other nurse, and back up at Joe. Though she didn't air her thoughts, she seemed stunned that such a large and apparently resilient creature would be the only owned Pokémon of such a scrawny, nervous and fearful boy. She could probably tell that he was not an especially experienced trainer either, considering how frantic and nervous he was behaving and how unaware he was of the aspects that came with the job. There were many questions a person could be driven to inquire about at that point, but it seemed that the nurse was not about to ask any of them.

"Okay." She said after a pause and a confused expression had passed quickly by. "I'll need to swipe your ID before we can go any further."

"ID...?"

Joe took a moment to recall what she was referring to, then began searching through his bag for it. He pulled out the slip of green plastic from a small pocket at the front of the bag and handed it sharply across the counter. The nurse took it and swiped it underneath an electronic scanner beside her computer. She then handed it back to him.

"Thank you, Mr. Green. It will take some time for us to perform a full check of your Pokémon, so you can either wait in here till we return him or come back in an hour or two."

"Thank you." Joe said with a grateful nod. He felt more relaxed now that he knew his new friend was unharmed.

"If this happens again, or he shows any previously unnoticed injuries, bring him back here straight away. There's always someone on duty, every hour of every day."

"I will." He paused, feeling that he ought to do something more. His uncle would have taken every precaution, as he did when tending to the farm. "If I need to contact you specifically, what name should I ask for?"

The nurse looked at him in confusion. "While at work, all Pokemon Centre nurses are referred to as Nurse Joy." She explained. That didn't make Joe feel especially encouraged. If he were to ask to speak to Nurse Joy, he would end up speaking to every female member of staff at the centre. "But if you need me personally, ask for Monday."

"Monday?" Joe asked.

"That's the day when I work at the front desk."

He nodded in understanding. If it was only her working there on only that day then maybe it would be easier to find her, but it still sounded unnecessarily complicated. Still, it was at least a bit better than the alternative. He hadn't even remembered that today was a Monday. He hadn't had a chance to check a calendar.

Joe didn't really know what to do with himself until Ralph recovered, so he opted to wait in the Pokémon centre until Ralph was returned to him. It was warmer inside the centre than it was outside at least, though it was quite a bit louder.

It became much louder when the girl he had accidentally crushed stormed in. She saw him immediately, still standing at the counter, having just gotten his ID back from the nurse. Her thin eyebrows narrowed and her eyes fixated upon his anxious face.

"There you are!" She declared, the doors squeaking shut behind her. She was holding a soggy fishing rod over her shoulder, the line tangled and loose with a missing lure and hook.

She stomped towards him, water spreading across the floor as her blue wellies squelched upon the shiny floor. Her bare legs were wet and covered in muck.

Many eyes were looking at them, mainly at the furious young woman who had come storming in, but also at the boy who had apparently angered her.

She grabbed Joe's collar and glared at him, threatening to hit him with the damaged rod.

"I had to get this rod from the bottom of the pool because of you!" She declared with ire. "Now it's ruined! Look at it!" She waved the broken fishing rod in his face, almost striking him several times. Joe backed away as best he could in her tight grip, ducking his head under the swings. "This cost Five-Thousand PokéDollars!" She declared, finally hitting him in the cheek. "I spent most of my money on buying this! You'd better pay for a new one!"

Joe was finally let go when the girl started to acknowledge the stares she was getting. Being the centre of attention didn't seem to bother her too much, though the discouraging looks she was getting from the nurses were persuading her to calm down. Once he was free from the girl's grip and not being assailed by her broken fishing rod, Joe backed away and took a moment to breathe.

"I'm sorry." He said to her, rubbing his struck cheek. "I didn't mean to hurt you or break your fishing rod. It was an accident."

The girl didn't seem appeased by this statement. Joe didn't know why he had assumed it would help. He had already apologised to her, and still she had followed him in order to punish him. Did he even deserve this? It had been an accident, that wasn't a lie. But did this girl care about that? Did she just want to hurt him?

So far his first day as a Pokémon trainer was going very well.

Now that the girl wasn't assailing him anymore and was starting to calm down, Joe hoped that maybe he could talk this issue through with her. She was still angry however, and it didn't look like she would calm down any time soon.

"Okay, listen... I didn't mean to bump into you..."

"Bump?" The girl retorted, her anger rising again.

"I meant crash..." Joe corrected himself. "I didn't mean to crash into you. I slipped on a muddy patch at the top of the hill and fell. That's all that happened. It wasn't intentional, and I'm sorry for breaking your rod."

The girl was starting to calm down again. It seemed that he was succeeding in appeasing her, though how long she would stay this way was yet to be seen.

"You must be real clumsy." She stated harshly.

"I suppose I am." Joe admitted, trying to make light of the situation, but not quite avoiding feeling hurt by the statement. It reminded him that his clumsiness had gotten his new Pokémon companion hurt. "What can I do to apologise to you?"

The girl held up the rod again. "You can either fix this or pay for a new one." She declared.

Joe looked at the rod. Its line was completely entangled around the wood, and he doubted he could do anything to salvage it. As for the missing lure and hook, he had no idea what to do about them. Even the wooden shaft that made up the main body was beyond saving, split in places and heavily waterlogged all over. The first option was beyond him. So that left only the second option.

"How much would a new rod cost?" He asked her.

"For good quality? Anywhere between Five and Twenty Thousand."

Joe felt his stomach drop, like a pebble over the edge of a cliff. He had not yet checked the money his uncle had given him, but he doubted it was much more than three thousand PokéDollars, and that would have to be spent on food, equipment, medicine for the road ahead and anything else he might end up needing. He certainly couldn't spend all that on a single fishing rod.

"I can't pay that much." He told her pathetically.

The ireful expression returned now. "Then you'll have to find a way to gather that money." She demanded without sympathy.

Joe was now feeling very down on his luck. One day into being a trainer and he was already in debt. He had known this would not be a good idea, yet his uncle and the professor had still insisted. If it wasn't for Ralph he would have turn back home already. If not for Ralph...

He suddenly recalled something he had heard once. It was common courtesy for trainers to part with some of their money after losing a Pokémon battle. Thanks to this known rule many trainers were able to keep funding their training on their journeys. Before Joe had always thought it rather unfair to take another person's earnings from them, but it would certainly help him repay this equally unfair debt if he were to take part in these battles and win. He only had Ralph right now, and he had no idea how strong or willing Ralph was to take part in any Pokémon battles, but they didn't have much of a choice anymore.

"If I can gather enough money to buy you a new fishing rod, will you forgive me and leave me alone?" He asked the angered girl.

She tilted her head. She didn't seem especially pleased with how he had worded his question, but she ultimately answered with a nod. "If you _can_ gather that much money." She stated with blatant doubt. "But if you end up losing that money or spend it on something other than my fishing rod, I will make sure you suffer for it!"

Joe had never experienced a threat like that from a girl before. It sent shivered down his spine. He dreaded to think what she would do to him. If her anger was anything to go by, it would be pretty awful.

"Okay." He said, trying to hide the squeak in his voice. "Where can I get a fishing rod?"

"I get all mine in Cerulean City." The girl explained. "It won't take long to get there. You just go through Viridian Forest to the north, then east from Pewter City, past Mount Moon, they you're there. Fortunately for you, I'm headed that way as well."

Joe's blood turned cold. He had a horrible idea of what she was suggesting. "You mean, you're going to... travel with me?" He asked, dreading that it was true.

"How else am I meant to make sure you keep your promise?" She asked coldly.

Only a day ago Joe had thought he would spend his entire life at his uncle's farm, not having to worry about anything else that happened outside of that small patch of heaven. If only he had known that the next day he would have left his home behind and been confronted by a girl who was hell-bent on making him suffer.

"Okay." He whimpered compliantly. "Once my Pokémon is healed I'll start getting that money for you."

"Oh yeah, where is your large purple friend?" The girl said, realising that the currently crushed crobat was not around.

"He's being healed right now." Joe told her, no happier knowing that she was interested in his new companion.

"Well then you'll have to use one of your other Pokémon." She stated.

"I don't... have any other Pokémon." Joe told her. He got a similar look from her to the one he had gotten from the nurse.

"So that... _thing_ really is your starter Pokémon?" She inquired.

"He's not mine." Joe continued. "Well, technically he is... Professor Oak instructed me to take him to Pewter City. He has a friend there who will look into where he came from and who owns him."

"So, let me get this straight..." He girl tried to understand. "The Professor gave you that large, purple bat thing and instructed you to take it to someone you've assumedly never met in a place you've assumedly never been all by yourself, while giving you no other Pokémon to protect yourself with, and apparently not even opting to go himself."

Joe nodded. That was what appeared to be happening.

"That's unbelievable." She stated in denial.

Joe couldn't agree more. Much of what had happened to him in the last twenty-four hours was unbelievable, and yet somehow it _was_ happening to him. He couldn't explain it any better than she could. He had wondered throughout most of the day if he was dreaming, but no amount of pinches or disbelief would wake him up. He reasoned that, if he was actually stuck in a dream – or, more appropriately, a nightmare – then perhaps the best way to get out of it was to reach its end.

"Alright." The girl declared, folding her arms around her destroyed fishing rod. "I suppose we'll have to wait until your friend is healed and ready to fight."

She marched him over to a couple of empty chairs not far from the counter, and forced him to sit down beside her. There were still a few trainers watching them, apparently enjoying the show they had put on for them. Now that the situation had calmed down most of them had lost interest.

The girl pulled her wellies off, and left them lying on the floor as she began to dry her bare feet with a towel he had recovered from her black and white backpack.

"I might as well ask what your name is." She stated after a few seconds of sitting in uncomfortable silence.

Joe turned to her, gulping nervously. "Joe." He told her.

"Your full name?" The girl pressed further.

"Joseph Green."

She looked at him, chuckling. "That's such a bland name." She declared, mockingly. "A bland name for a bland boy."

That hurt him quite a bit. It wasn't like he had chosen his name. He didn't choose to be Joe Green. That was the name his parents had left him with... it was the only thing they had left him with, actually.

"Okay, what's your name then?" He asked, growing a small amount of confidence in order to press such a personal question.

The girl looked at him momentarily, then put the soaked towel down upon her lap. She reached out towards him with a hand. For a flinching moment Joe had feared that she would strike him again... but instead she simply held out and open for him to take.

"Winter White." She responded, her voice a little warmer than it once had been.

Now it was Joe who was chuckling at her. He tried to hide his snigger. "You call my name bland... Winter White?"

"What?" The girl asked him, eyes narrowed.

"At least my parents didn't name me after a season." He told her, attempting to gain a foothold upon her mountain of abuse and mockery. "Did you get your name from a crappy superhero comic? One more _W_ in your name and you could become a website."

"I could always make you pay for _two_ new fishing rods." The girl reminded him.

And just like that her name stopped being funny. Joe decided not to try and make her any more angry than she already was, and went back to waiting for his new companion to be returned to him.

* * *

"So you honestly have no idea how Pokémon battles work?"

Joe shrugged, not sure what he was supposed to tell her. "I never really had an interest in that stuff. I always thought it was a bit barbaric."

He could visibly see the frustration escape through her ears as steam.

"I can't believe this!" Winter muttered under her breath, clenching handfuls of her long orange hair in her hands. "What am I supposed to do with you?"

_You could leave me alone!_ Joe had wanted to say that to her, though he knew it wouldn't help the situation at all. This girl wasn't going to turn around and leave him alone, not after her earlier display. "Why don't you teach me, then?" he suggested instead. Now that he had gotten Ralph back from the nurses he had the opportunity to start facing other trainers. He wasn't keen to partake in Pokémon battles, but considering his current indebted situation it was a much more solvable problem.

Surely this girl could teach him how to fight with Pokémon. She seemed to be a much more experienced trainer than he was. If she so desperately wanted him to pay for a new rod to replace the one he'd broken then the least she could do was show him how to gather the needed money.

She seemed to think otherwise. "It's your own fault for getting into this situation. If you don't know what you're doing then I'm not going to help you."

'_Crooo.'_ Ralph growled, tilting his head and shrugging in a sort of '_she's got ya there' _gesture.

Now Joe was getting annoyed at her. He had only just left the Pokémon centre, in some sort of hope that they could either move on to Pewter City or start gathering the money they needed. She wasn't helping him at all, not with her stubborn and judgmental attitude or her continuous despising glances or demands.

"How do you expect me to pay for your damned rod if you won't teach me how to fight?" he asked her.

Though she did look to be considering his point, the ginger haired girl dismissed it moments later. "It's not my fault that you're a clumsy idiot." She snapped at him. "It's the responsibility of a Pokémon trainer to know this sort of stuff."

Joe had to wonder how anyone had ever learned how to fight using Pokémon with an attitude like that. Everyone had to learn something from somewhere, they didn't just know it the moment they tried it. Even the best Pokémon trainers in the world had probably been through a process like this.

"You're so unreasonable." He told her, though with less coldness than she had shown him. "You want me to buy you a new fishing rod, but you won't at least show me how to make that money back. With that logic I'm going to be indebted to you my entire life." This fact didn't seem to bother her too much, which only made Joe angrier at her. "The sooner I get that money together and buy you a new fishing rod, the sooner we'll be out of each other's hair." he reasoned to the unreasonable young woman. "You can go back to whatever you were doing, and I can finish the task I was set. We won't ever have to see each other again."

Finally he seemed to be getting through to her. It seemed she wanted to be away from him as much as he wanted to be away from her. She sighed, having realised that she had to give in to his point.

"Fine." She muttered with exasperation. "I'll teach you... but I won't help you win."

"Fine." Joe retorted with just as much irritation in his voice.

"How much _do_ you know, anyway?" She asked, as the two of them came to a stop beside a couple of benches at the edge of a small grass field near the centre of the town. "Do you know about typing? Moves? Abilities?"

Joe knew a little about typing and moves. He knew the types of most of his uncle's pokemon, though he knew that because his uncle had taught them to him. He knew about moves like Flamethrower, Hydro Pump, Rain Dance, Leech Seed, Vine Whip, Dig and Fly thanks to working alongside the farm pokemon, but beyond those few he didn't know many at all. And as for abilities... he knew none.

The look he gave her said enough. She rubbed her tired face, realising that she really would have to teach him everything, even the very basics.

"Okay..." she declared after a moment to take in the situation. "Well, do you understand that every Pokémon has at least one type?" Joe nodded. "Well, each type has its strength and weaknesses. They will be strong against some types of Pokémon, but weak against others. Some Pokémon even have two types, combining their strengths and weaknesses." She pointed a finger at Ralph. "Do you know what type he is?" she asked.

Joe shrugged. He never had found out that answer. Assumedly he would be the same typing as his apparent evolutionary counterparts, though he didn't know what type they were either.

"The professor said that he's a Crobat." Joe told her before she could despair. "According to him they're the final evolution of Zubat."

"That's a start at least." Winter groaned, though she was starting to look a little more hopeful about the situation. "Zubats are Poison and Flying types. Assumedly he is has the same typing too."

"Assumedly?" Joe asked.

"Sometimes a Pokémon's type changes when they evolve." She clarified. "I don't think that happens to Zubats though."

"Then Ralph is a..." Joe paused, trying to take in all that she was saying. "...Poison and Flying type?"

"He's a duel type." Winter explained. "Both Flying and Poison Pokémon have unique strengths and weakness. Flying types are quick and often quite powerful, and they're really useful for taking care of Bug, Grass and Fighting types. They're easy shot down by Electric and Rock type moves though, so watch out for them. They also don't like cold weather, so avoid Ice types if you can. As for Poison types, they're not so easily squashed, but if one end up in a fight with a Ground or Psychic type they'll be in trouble. Psychics can quell poison with ease, and ground types simply absorb them into the earth. On top of that, Poison type moves are only really effective against Grass Type Pokémon. You'll have an easy time against them with him."

Ralph smirked smugly about that last part.

"So he has..." Joe counted on his fingers "...five weaknesses?

"Actually no." Winter corrected him. "Flying types can't be hurt by ground type moves."

"Why not?"

She looked at him, her eyes sharply narrowing in mockery. "Think about it for a moment." She said. "If you had wings and you were caught in an earthquake, what would you do?"

Joe blinked back at her. "I would fly away." Suddenly the point struck him like a spear to the head. "I see."

"So your friend there only has four weaknesses in all." Winter taught him. "Not great, but it could be much worse. The big issue is how common those four types are. Even if his opponent isn't an Electric, Rock, Ice or Psychic Pokémon, it's possible they will know a move of one of those types. You should be grateful that it doesn't have a double weakness. That would be nightmarish to deal with."

He could make an estimated guess at what a double weakness was. So Ralph would struggle against Electric, Rock, Ice and Psychic type pokemon? The number of weaknesses was problematic, but they didn't sound as common as she was suggesting. His uncle didn't have any Pokémon of those types, and other than maybe the occasional Magnemite he spotted near the Professor's Lab or working on construction sites, he had never seen any Pokémon of those types before either. Perhaps they weren't as common among trainers as Winter was suggesting.

"It should be smooth sailing against Grass types, though." Winter continued with a more hopeful tone. "Your bat will wipe the floor with most of them, and they can do very little back to him. So if you want to be done with your debt..." She began, her harsher tone returning, "I'd suggest you focus upon fighting Grass Type users."

"I think I should get my head around battling first," Joe reasoned quietly, "before I try and pick out trainers I want to fight."

"Good luck choosing." Winter said under her breath. He looked at her confused. "If you lock eyes with another trainer, you have to fight them."

Joe was baffled by that rule. "Wait, what? Why?"

"I don't know. It just is. That's been a rule for ages. No one really questions it." She shrugged nonchalantly, as if the subject wasn't at all important. "It's just a part of being a trainer. Other trainers will challenge you to fights. It'd be rude to decline them, so that rule makes sure you can't. If you don't want to fight don't make eye contact."

Who had come up with that rule? What logic was there to it? You accidentally caught another person's gaze so now you have to fight them? What if you didn't have time to fight another trainer? What if you had to get somewhere quickly? What if none of your Pokémon were fit to fight at that moment, did you still have to fight then? Was it really that bad to decline? It wasn't something that both trainers had to agree to, so why was it seen as disrespectful to decline?

"Does this happen all the time... everywhere?" Joe asked, sounding a bit terrified by the prospect.

"Not everywhere." Winter corrected herself. "Usually on the routes or in the wilds, but rarely in towns or cities. There it's expected that you ask your opponent to fight, then you find somewhere with enough space to allow for one."

That at least made Joe a little less concerned by the prospect. If he needed to get away from the treat of battle with other trainers then he could simply escape to the nearest settlement.

"Perhaps it would be best to have you partake in a battle." Winter thought to herself, rubbing her chin with a gentle finger.

Joe turned his gaze upon her, startled by the prospect. "What... here? Now?"

"Nowhere better to start." She reassured him. He doubted that very much. His Uncle and the professor had said nothing about him _needing_ to fight other trainers, but the situation he was in was forcing him to make choices he was normally try and avoid. Reluctantly he let her leave to find someone he was capable of fighting.

He and Ralph were left waiting for two minutes, leaning against one of the soaked benches and watching as the sun above their heads began to descent down the western horizon. The Crobat appeared to be just as eager to avoid fighting as the boy did. Though Ralph had held his own against the Beedrill atop the Pallet hillside, he didn't seem to like the idea of hurting other things. In that time of waiting Joe started to wonder what Crobat's were supposed to eat. The professor hadn't clarified that. Did they eat plants or fruits? Did they eat other pokemon? Did they drink blood? That last possibility made Joe shiver. Bats were notorious for doing that, weren't they? If so, was there a risk that he might become a midnight snack on his first night as a trainer.

Winter returned shortly, followed by a boy a few years younger than her and Joe. He was about ten years old, but he carried a belt around his blue shorts that had one minimized red Poké Ball hanging from it. He was another trainer then. Ten was the usual age when children started becoming Pokémon trainers, but even so he seemed so much younger than that, barely more than a toddler. The tip of his cap hardly reached Winter's stomach.

"Here's your opponent." Winter declared, gesturing from the boy to Joe and Ralph. It took Joe a moment to realise that she was actually talking to the boy at that moment.

"Are you a trainer, too?" The boy asked eagerly.

Joe glanced at Winter, who encouraged him to say yes. "I suppose so." He said. Not exactly what Winter wanted him to say, but good enough.

The boy pointed a finger at Joe's chest. "Then I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!"

Joe blinked. A smile cracked across his face. He was only about three years older than the boy, yet he felt as if he was talking to an infant. He couldn't take him seriously, even if he was visibly carrying a pokemon.

"Joey's a new trainer, like you are." Winter was saying now to Joe. Again Joe looked at her, blinked, and realised that she had said someone else's name.

"Joey?" He repeated, trying not to mishear it again.

"That's my name." The boy declared, unclipping the Poké Ball from his belt. "...and someday, I'm going to become the Pokémon champion."

This time Joe laughed. He tried not to, but the adorable and unbelievable prospect of the subject set off his humorous nerves. The boy glared at him, not seeing the joke. He took it as an insult against his abilities.

"Joe versus Joey." Winter declared with an excited grin. "How could I resist a pairing like that? There's only a one letter difference in your names."

Joe couldn't quite see why that was important. While the boy was very eager to fight, he was not so keen. He didn't have much of a choice, however.

"Now, what do I do?" Joe asked as he turned to Winter. She was about to answer him, when the boy interrupted her and gave his own answer.

"Go, Rattata!" He shouted, hurling the ball at the grass in front of him.

Joe was a bit startled by the sudden exclamation and action. For a split second he had thought the boy would throw the ball at him. Instead it hit the grass a few feet away from his white and red trainers.

The ball burst open, and in a flash or red light a Pokémon was released from it. Joe and Ralph looked down at the tiny purple rodent before them. It was so much smaller than the Pokémon that would be its opponent, yet it was gnashing and bruxing its teeth threatening. It began to squeak at them.

Joe found it a little amusing to look at the small creature that he was supposed to fight. It hardly looked like a threat at all. But then that left him with a conundrum. Ralph would almost certainly destroy this poor thing with one attack. Though it would most likely be an easy victory, he wasn't sure he was comfortable with annihilating the fragile pokemon of such a young trainer.

The boy meanwhile was not facing such a conundrum. In fact he didn't seem to acknowledge the size of the Pokémon he would be fighting.

"What am I supposed-" Joe attempted to ask. But the fight had already begun, and the boy was instructing his Pokémon to attack.

"Rattata, use Tackle!" Joey instructed with a pointing finger. His Rattata began to scamper across the grass towards Joe and Ralph, teeth bared and head lowered. The both of them backed away as it approached, only for it to leap from the short grass towards them. It didn't seem to be aiming for Joe, and instead its trajectory took it towards the hovering, four winged purple bat.

Instinctively Ralph moved out of the way, pushing himself back with a flutter of his wings. The rat landed on the grass just past where he had been floating. Now realising that he was indeed in a battle, Ralph raised his larger wings in defence, keeping himself precariously airborne with his frantically flapping lower wings.

"Tell it to use a move!" Winter shouted at him, having moved to the side of the battle to avoid accidentally being hit.

"I don't know any of his moves?" Joe responded, having to skirt out of the way of another lunge from the small rodent.

Winter groaned in further annoyance. "You-!" She hit her hands against her sides in frustration. "It has wings! It has teeth! Tell it to use them!"

"Okay..." Joe swallowed nervously and straightened his back. He had to command Ralph to attack now, and he had no idea if he would do it right. He feared that Ralph wouldn't follow his orders, or understand what he was instructing him to do. He had no choice but to act, however. The fight was already taking place, and if he didn't act it would never end. "Ralph... attack it with your wings!" Joe instructed.

There was no problem with understanding. Ralph got the message he was conveying. He hesitated at first, not so reluctant to attack a pokemon that was barely a tenth of his size. It was only when the Rattata lunged for a third time that Ralph began his attack.

It was so fast that Joe could barely see it. Ralph's wing moved like a well-sharpened blade through the air in front of him, slicing it open with his wing tip. The edge of that wing hit the Rattata in the side, and sent it flying across the grass. It rolled for almost a metre before landing on its feet and digging its toes into the wet soil.

_'Ratta-tata-tata' _it hissed, large bucked teeth clenching.

"That was mean!" The boy whined in anger. He clenched his fist and waved it at the older trainer.

Joe looked back at him, already regretting making Ralph hurt his pokemon. It didn't feel good. The tiny thing was barely standing after taking that attack, in fact Joe was surprised that it hadn't collapsed already. Ralph had taken down a swarm of Beedrill with a single strike before. Was there something different here? He then recalled Winter's talk about Pokemon Types and Weaknesses. '_Flying types are really useful for taking care of Bug, Grass and Fighting types'_. Logically the Beedrill were bug types, so they had a weakness to one of Ralph's types. Then perhaps Rattata did not. Moves had types too, didn't they?

Joey's Rattata was already attacking again. It was tired and injured and barely able to hobble forwards on its tiny legs, but it was still going. Perhaps it would be kinder to simply defeat it now and not let it continue in pain any longer. Joe only hoped that the next move wouldn't kill it.

"Now, Ralph, bite it!"

The imagery that came from the next attack would haunt his dreams for some time. At the very least the Rattata was still alive afterwards, though it certainly wasn't able to fight any longer. Ralph had scooped it up into his now wide, fanged mouth, in a terrifyingly predatory way. Joe could hear its fearful squeaking, and see it struggling to escape through Ralph's cheeks. If Ralph had swallowed it, he would have vomited. Thankfully he spat it back out again. The little rat landed on the grass, covered in saliva.

Apparently the fight was over now. Winter declared it as such, and announced that Joe was the winner. He hadn't exactly been surprised by this, not after seeing how tiny his opponent was. He felt pretty awful for essentially bullying and beating up some innocent kid and his little pokemon. The kid was certainly upset about his loss.

He wasn't crying, which Joe found impressive – he probably would have cried about it at that age – but he wasn't at all happy. He glared at Joe as he returned his spit-covered Pokémon. "You're no fun!" He declared, before throwing Joe a few coins and running off.

"Congrats on your first victory." Winter told him, gathering up the thrown money and cleaning mud off it. "And look, you made fifty-six PokéDollars."

It didn't feel much like a victory. Ralph had been much stronger than the unfortunate Rattata. That didn't really clarify how strong Ralph actually was, and Joe was starting to become concerned. What if he was really strong? What if he was so strong that he completely overpowered any other Pokemon he fought? What then if he was so strong that he accidentally killed one of them? Ralph seemed to share a similar concern. He hadn't been aware of how powerful his attacks were. At least he had spat the Rattata back out, so he was aware that he was hurting – possibly endangering – the Pokémon he battled.

"Only fifty-six?" Joe realised. That was hardly a stepping stone upon his path to buying a new fishing rod. He now had three-thousand and fifty-six PokéDollars. "I'm never going to make enough money."

"Don't be so glum." Winter told him in a surprising attempt to encourage. "He was a beginner like you. They don't have much money to give out. Once you start fighting more experienced trainers you'll earn more."

That didn't make him feel much better. Experienced trainers would be tougher to fight. He wasn't sure if Ralph was up to that. He wasn't even his pokemon. He also wasn't keen to hurt any more Pokémon. Sure, Joey's Rattata was still alive and not seriously injured, but he couldn't guarantee that other Pokémon he fought would be as fortunate. He didn't like the idea of bringing harm to other people or Pokémon. That just wasn't in his nature.

"So, you've experienced your first Pokémon battle," Winter told him with a smile, "You've taught Ralph a couple of moves – Wing Attack and Bite – and you've earned a bit of cash too." She slapped him on the shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Master Green, your adventure has just begun."

Joe looked away from her. So far his journey had consisted of accidents, injuries, debt and guilt. He dreaded to think about what would happen next.


	8. Chapter 6 - Lost in the Woods

It was late into the day when he left Viridian City. He had considered staying there overnight. He checked with the nurses at the Centre and learned they had spare rooms available which trainers were allowed to stay in for free during the night. The idea of sleeping on a proper bed was appealing. His first day as a trainer had been rough but at least it would have ended well. But ultimately he did not take one of those rooms for his own... because his companion was set against it.

He was starting to realise just how annoying and invasive Winter was going to be to have around. The two of them were so different; in personality, in goals, in attitude, in experience, in opinions and especially in confidence. She hadn't thought twice about demanding he buy her a new fishing rod, or suggesting they travel together till they reached Cerulean City, or forcing him to battle another newbie trainer. While he was anxious about every action he took, she did things without as much as a pause of nervousness. It astounded him that she could manage this. She was clearly a much more experienced Pokémon trainer than he, but did that alone cement her confidence into this shape? Unfortunately his uncertainty and her assurance was already clashing.

"Can't we just rest for the night then leave in the morning?" Joe tried to beg her, his eyes starting to droop. They sun was setting over the city, he could see its orange glow through the Centre's windows. It had been a long day for him, and though he hadn't gone far it had been full of emotion and stress. He wanted to collapse onto a soft bed and snooze for several hours.

"Out of the question." Winter snapped at him, coming across as a strict mother figure. Joe got the feeling that she behaved this way with her own mother. "Time is of the essence. If we dawdle around here another night we won't get to Cerulean on time."

"On time for what?" he demanded, having to ask.

_"Crooo?"_ Ralph agreed, probably unsure of what was being discussed at that moment and wanted to sound like he understood.

She rolled her eyes and sighed, exasperated. "What do you think I fish for?" She asked with narrowed eyelids.

"For Pokémon?" Joe said.

"Well done!" The ginger haired girl stated patronizingly. "And what do you think I do with those Pokémon?"

"You eat them?" He could think of several answers, and if he was being honest with himself this was the one that seemed most likely to be correct.

"I _sell_ them!" She exclaimed. "To other Pokémon trainers." The shout made Joe flinch, and even Ralph beside him was a little surprised.

"Oh." Joe muttered, as if he had known all along. "Of course." He paused to think about this. "Hang on, aren't water pokemon really common?"

"Not everywhere." Winter corrected him. "Sure, they're easy to catch in most places in Kanto, but in other warmer regions that's a different matter."

"But wouldn't that cause problems with those region's ecosystem?"

"They don't get released back into the wild." Winter continued, starting to tire from his probing questions. "At least most of them don't, I think. I don't know. All I do is catch a couple wherever I can find them, then I hand them over to a transportation team and they take them to the trainers who are buying them. Then I get paid!" She said that last part while rubbing her hands together.

"It sounds a bit like stealing." Joe murmured with disapproval.

"It isn't stealing!" Winter scolded him. "It's nothing like. I catch _wild_ Pokémon, not Pokémon that are already owned. Those pokemon then get given to trainers who want them, whether they're new or experienced. It's not so different from what Professor Oaky does, and he supports what we do actually."

"So it's poaching?"

"It's _not _poaching!"

"Alright." Joe had to take her word for it. Unlike her, the professor had a PhD and many years of study under his belt. How old was she, twelve, thirteen? She wasn't on the same level as him, not even close. But he couldn't argue against her point either, as there was no evidence to disprove it. At least it sounded like the Pokémon she sold off were being taken care of. That was something, he supposed.

He realised that the orange haired girl was now smiling at him. It was a small smile, but one that was also full to the brim with sinister guile.

"I could sell you a water Pokémon if you'd like." She announced covertly.

Joe could feel the shiver run down his spine. Barely a day he had known her, and yet she was trying to take every penny he had. What sort of blood-hungry entrepreneur was she? She seemed prepared to drain him of every last drop. He took a step back, as did Ralph.

"I-I'll catch my own, thanks." He said, trying to be assertive.

Winter shrugged, dropping the cunning grin for a disappointed frown. "We'll see about that." She muttered eerily. "So far you've proven to know next to nothing about being a trainer. Do you even known how to catch a Pokémon?"

"Yes." Joe said. It was obviously a lie. He had tried to hide it, but his unsure voice crack gave him away.

Winter raised a doubtful eyebrow. "Well, we'll have to work on that along the way." She decided. She took a step forwards, reached out, and grabbed Joe by the wrist. "Let's get going, before it gets too dark to see."

"Wait, wait!" Joe insisted, pulling against her. "I still need to get Ralph checked after that battle."

"What do you expect them to say?" Winter asked with a shrug and a hard tug. "He looks fine, there's not a scratch on him. Not even in his mouth."

That appeared to be true. Having made a quick check of the inside of the crobat's mouth they saw no signs of cuts or bleeding or wounds of any kind. Truthfully Joe hadn't wanted to look into that wade fanged maw for very long at all, and perhaps hadn't given it a thorough inspection. All the same, he wanted a professional pokemon doctor to look him over, to make sure there were no hidden or latent injuries which might cause him trouble on the journey.

"I'm still not sure this is a good-"He didn't quite finish the sentence, as Winter's much louder and more forceful voice drowned his out.

"It is, trust me. We'll start the first leg through the forest before dark, set up camp for the night, then do the rest tomorrow. We'll be in Pewter by tomorrow evening."

Joe had no choice but to follow her. It was that or have his hand pulled off. Winter dragged him out of the centre by his arm, his feet trying to push against her but slipping upon the frictionless floor. In his attempt to fight back and break free from the controlling redhead, he almost walked straight into another trainer who was entering the Centre.

"Sorry!" Joe shouted to him, avoiding his black zipped up hoodie in front of him by a hair's width. The trainer only looked at him, a little startled.

Then Joe was outside, his feet skidding along the road, stumbling and trying not to fall onto his face. Ralph followed after him, watching the two human children fight against each other as they left the city.

* * *

He had ultimately been right to distrust Winter's confidence. They did not get as far into the forest as she had wanted before night came around. They had barely managed to enter the tree line. They ended up wasting several hours trying to traverse Route 2, which for some reason was teeming with trainers looking for a nocturnal battle. Apparently this was part of the reason why Winter had wanted to leave that evening. She had assumed that most of the trainers who took up post on this route would have gone home or to their camps by the time the sun had set, but for whatever reason many of them were still out and about. They ended up trying to sneak past them in the dark. While this worked in most cases, a few keen eyed trainers spotted them and demanded a battle. Thankfully none of these trainers seemed to be any more experienced than Joe was. Ralph managed to get some more practice in, but only against low level Pidgey and Rattata.

Finally they reached the forest, and it was pitch black. Winter had a torch on her, and flicking the switch created a narrow cone of white light. Above the stars were visible still, but once they were within the trees they were covered up by the dark leafy canopy. They wondered on for a little while. Winter was still determined to traverse a bit of the forest before stopping, much to Joe's annoyance. Eventually they did stop, after finding a small clear patch between several thick trunked oaks. They placed their backpacks down on the ground and sat beside them, exhaling in exhaustion.

"Now that wasn't so bad, was it?" Winter said after descending onto her rear with a grateful sigh.

Joe glared across at her, and she glared back.

"Alright, so I wasn't expecting there to be so many trainers out at this time." She admitted awkwardly, yet she still somehow retained her know-it-all attitude. "But we got past them eventually."

"Eventually." Joe agreed sarcastically.

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't hear you speak up with your better plan." She snapped back sassily.

"We could have stayed at the centre and left in the morning," Joe told her stubbornly, "like I wanted to do all along."

"That's no fun." She argued. "Part of being a trainer is living out in the wilds."

Joe was going to argue that he was not technically a trainer, merely someone who had been sent on an errand, but he was continuously doubting that was the case. His uncle and the professor had done everything to make this feel like the start of his training career. Barely any part of it felt like a simple errand. He doubted they even expected him to return after reaching Pewter City. He would, though. He didn't know if Ralph would be with him then or not, but he was going back home once this task was done. Nothing would change that.

"It's cold." He muttered, wrapping his arms around himself as he began to shiver. His hoodie insulated him a little during the day, but at night it was hardly enough to stop the cold winds from freezing him. Though they were no win spring, the weather was taking a bit of time to catch up. The days still seemed as cold as those in late winter. Surely it had to start getting warmer soon.

_'Croooo.'_ Ralph agreed, performing a similar hugging action with his wings. In order to do this he'd been forced to perch upon a nearby fallen branch.

"We should build a fire."

Winter looked up from the interior of her black and white backpack and stared at him. "What, here, in the middle of a forest?"

"We're in a clearing." Joe told her, noticing the startled sarcasm in her voice.

"That doesn't mean anything. We're still really close to the trees. One strong gust of wind and we could have a forest fire on our hands."

Joe felt that she was exaggerating a little. "It only needs to be a small, controlled fire." He insisted.

"Do you even know how to start a fire?" Winter inquisitor.

Joe's voice stalled. "No." He admitted.

"Well neither do I." Winter hissed.

"Do you not have any fire pokemon?"

"No. Do you?"

"No."

"Then there you have it. No fire."

Winter zipped up her backpack and placed it behind her. She leaned on hit, using it as both a pillow and a backrest. She zipped up her green parker coat to keep her warm, and down her nose she stared at her male companion and his purple bat.

"It can't be that hard to figure out." Joe decided. He grabbed two flimsy twigs and began rubbing them together. Winter watched him for a few seconds, and when she had finally suffered enough embarrassment she sat up and stopped him.

"You're never going to start a fire like that." She told him, trying hard not to cringe.

Joe dropped the sticks and looked at her with narrowed eyes. "Okay then, how do you do it."

She pushed herself up onto her knees and crawled forwards, so that there was a small space between her and her companion. "First we need to clear a space for the fire to go. Spread these leaves out and create an empty spot of dirt." Her instructions were followed well enough, much to her delight. At least he could follow very simple instructions.

"Now what?" Joe asked.

"Now we need some dry twigs." They both looked around. Most of the wooden fragments lying on the ground were soaked from past rainfall, and had not dried off yet. They would be useless for creating a fire. The smaller branches of the trees were dry enough however, and they both snapped a couple off from the ends. Ralph chewed on one, which didn't help them. "Place them in a tepee in the cleared space."

Joe started trying to stack the collected dry twigs against each other, but this was easier said than done. The twigs were rather flimsy and didn't like having to bare the weight of the other twigs. It took multiple tries before they could get it to stand.

"Finally we need to light the fire." Winter announced.

"How do we do that?" Joe pondered. He didn't have a lighter or a piece of flint on him, nothing which could create a spark.

Winter took one of the spare sticks, as well as a larger branch lying by a tree trunk. She slid the branch underneath the tepee and pressed the dry stick into a small concave knot in the bare bark. She then began to rub the twig, rotating it vigorously against the branch.

She did this for several minutes, with nothing but small splinters of dry wood as a result. Joe watched her pitifully.

"I don't think it's working." He muttered. She shushed him and continued with her work.

Only after five minutes of effort did anything start to happen. A small, faint glisten appeared for a brief moment, then went out. Winter kept going, encouraged by this positive sign. Then another spark appeared, this time larger and longer lasting. Then a third spark, quickly followed by a fourth. Then a fifth. With the sixth spark the twig and branch began to burn, a small flame lapping at their surface.

"There we go." Winter announced with pride. "Got there in the end."

"Only took you ten minutes." Joe muttered, not quite as awe-struck. Though admittedly he was a little impressed that she had managed to get a fire going.

Winter slip the branch further under the tepee, so that the flame could swell up underneath the twigs surrounding it, and added singed twig on top of it.

"Are you happy now?" She asked him, cold enough to extinguish the fire by accident.

"I thought you were afraid of starting a forest fire?" He reminded her.

"I have a way around that." She told him.

In response to his mocking question, she pulled out a Poké Ball. Joe hadn't expected that sort of a response. She was going to send out one of her pokemon? He had been a little curious to know what pokemon she used, especially considering how she had been treating him and Ralph since they had met. He half expected her to send out some sort massive, horrific monster. It would have complemented her personality nicely. But when she threw the Poké Ball up into the air and it popped open, the creature he was faced with was much plainer and more harmless than that.

_'Poliii...'_ the blue thing gurgled.

The first thing Joe wondered was how it was able to make sounds. This creature didn't have a mouth. The second was why this stubborn, demanding, aggressive redheaded girl would own such a tame looking beast. The blue skinned creature was froglike, though with a bipedal humanoid shape. It had a round body, with a white stomach and a black spiral pattern upon its belly. Two stumpy arms protruded from the top half, ending in white mitten hands. Its legs were just as stumpy, and it stood upon flat oval-shaped feet. The only visible sense organs were a pair of thin nostrils and two spread out eyes that protruded from the top of its head.

"Morning, Poole." Winter said to it cheerfully.

The blue frog creature turned and gurgled at her, appearing to smile though it had no mouth to do so.

_'Whiirrlll!'_ It burbled happily.

Ralph hissed quietly upon seeing the creature. It seemed that he thought it looked strange. Winter's Pokémon apparently took offense to that, and it bubbled something back at him. Ralph blushed and turned his expression away is disgust.

"What... Pokémon is that?" Joe asked, also a little surprised to see this odd pokemon waddling around happily beside his female travel companion. The pokemon he was used to seeing were either large and dinosaur-like or simplistic in their biology. Other than it's resemblance to frogs, this new Pokémon seemed very unusually to him.

Winter looked at him, a little hurt by his disgust. "This is Poole, my Poliwhirl." She told him, patting the creature on the head. The Pokémon – Poole – bubbled with delight. "He was the first pokemon I ever got."

"So that thing is your starter?" Joe realised.

"He's not a thing, he's a he!" She snapped at him. "And yes, he is. He was given to me as a gift by my grandmother."

"Why did you let him out?" Joe was starting to wander the reason for this. The fire was starting to grow. Surely she wasn't planning to put it out. Her pokemon looked like a water type, so such an action would be easy for it.

"He's going to keep the fire under control." Winter explained. "If it starts to grow out of control, he'll put it out. It'll allow us to get some sleep at least, he can watch it for the night."

Joe looked at her pokemon, wondering if it was acceptable to let it watch a growing flame by itself all night. The poliwhirl didn't seem to complain though. It sat down beside its trainer, bulbous eyes focused on the fire.

"We should get some sleep." Winter told him, pulling her coat further around her neck. "There's not much point sitting awake and staring at the fire. We'll be walking all of tomorrow."

Joe hummed, only half paying attention to her. He watched the fire as it began to crackle. Its heat hadn't yet reached him but he could tell it was starting to grow. He had never slept outside before. He and his uncle had gone camping on in of their farm's fields when he was eight, but they had set up a tent and a grill for a proper fire. He'd been wrapped up inside a sleeping bag upon a rolled out mat, with an actual pillow under his head. He had been relatively comfortable back then. He wasn't comfortable right now. The zips and straps of his backpack dug into his neck and the general shape of it forced his head to twist into an awkward position. His body had to lie upon the soft and slightly damp ground, allowing mud and leaves and who knew what else to stick to him. He doubted he would get much actual sleep that night.

"What does he do in order to sleep?" Winter pondered.

Joe snapped out of his thought, looking back at her in confusion.

"The bat." She explained. "How does he sleep?"

Joe didn't answer. He didn't actually know. He recalled hearing that bats tended to hang from tree branches in order to sleep. He rolled over to look at his Pokémon.

Ralph stared back at him, not sure why he was being looked at.

"How... do you sleep?" He asked the creature awkwardly.

Ralph blinked, then shrugged.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Joe asked him, confused by the response. Ralph merely shrugged again, his soft, leathery wings folding downward as he did so. Joe was left wondering what that was supposed to mean. "Well try hanging from one of the branches. I think that's what bats do when they sleep."

Ralph obeyed him, and instantly took to the air. He created a sharp gust of wind which very nearly put the fire out. Poole began trying to keep it alive, fanning it with his mitten hands. Above them the Crobat fluttered, hovering from tree to tree. Ralph moved around on the branches, testing their strength, trying to find one strong enough to support his weight. When he did, he gripped it with his hidden feet and hung upside down with his wings wrapped around his body. He didn't sleep though. His yellow eyes were still visible, glowing in the dark of the forest.

Joe rolled over onto his left side, trying to get comfortable. With the fire now crackling awake he was feeling warmer, and thanks to that the creeping comfort of sleep was beginning to spread over him. He stifled a yawn.

"Goodnight, Winter." He muttered at the end of his exhalation.

He could hear the girl move around sharply, her coat scraping against her backpack. He could only assume that she was looking at him, as it stopped a second later.

"G'night." He heard her whisper in response. Joe smiled slightly. That was the first semi-nice thing she had said to him.

He closed his eyes. For a while he was left waiting uncomfortably, as the fire burned in front of him. He let himself relax as he listened to the twigs snap and burn up. Before he knew it he had drifted off.

* * *

He awoke to the sound of rummaging.

Joe groaned weakly, as his eyes adjusted to the sudden quantity of light. Transitioning from sleep to consciousness was a trying experience normally, but lying upon an uncomfortable bed didn't help. His neck felt crooked and his back was rigid and sore. He longed for a soft mattress and a proper pillow to lie upon. Even a blanket would've been nice. At some point in his sleep his head had slid off his backpack. It now lay upon the soft ground beside it. He could feel leaves and mud sticking to his cheek and messing up his hair. Removing them wouldn't be easy or fun out here in the wilderness.

He began to sit up, propping himself with his elbow. He had been lying on his left arm, so it was rather weak and fragile at first, but it managed to hold him up for a few seconds. He saw that the fire had died out, the remnants of it a mere pile of ashes and charred twig. He looked beyond it, and saw Winter, who was still asleep. Poole lay beside her, his round eyes closed and snoring loudly. Light was breaking through the forest canopy, shining down upon their side of the camp. The girl's face was illuminated, her ginger hair practically glowing and her pale skin shimmering in the sunlight.

More rustling.

Joe hadn't noticed it until then. Something was moving around behind him. It didn't sound natural, not like an animal moving through tall grass or bushes. This was the rustling of man-made fabric. And then he realised what that sound was.

Something was rummaging through his backpack.

He sat up sharply, turning and grabbing it in both hands. He lifted the backpack up off the ground, mud and leaves falling away from its bottom. It seemed slightly heavier than before. The zipper for the main compartment had been pulled open. He could feel something moving around inside.

A face suddenly popped out, taking Joe by surprised. It was small and yellow, with round black eyes, a button nose, red cheeks and pointy black tipped ears. It blinked at him, and he blinked back. One of its ears twitched.

_'Pii?'_ It squeaked curiously.

Joe dropped the backpack. The little yellow mouse rolled out of it, yelping. An apple was gripped in its front paws. It didn't take much for Joe to recognise the type of Pokémon it was. He hadn't had much experience with the vast number of Pokémon native to this region, but he didn't need to in order to recognise this one. Of all creatures, a Pikachu had been attempting to steal food from him while he was sleeping.

The Pikachu looked at him, its ears twitching. Its tail swished from side to side, and its wide eyes stared nervously.

Then it began to spark.

"Shhii-!" Joe threw the backpack up in front of him, just as the Pikachu fired a thin line of static electricity at him. It hit the backpack, covering it in sparks and tiny jagged yellow lines. The zippers glowed and fizzled. The fabric steamed and grew hot. Fortunately the small current of electricity stayed put within the backpack and did not jump across to Joe.

He dropped the backpack moments later, the static electricity having faded as quickly as it came. The Pikachu had turned tail, its rear visibly disappearing into the undergrowth. It had taken the apple with it.

Winter had stirred awake with his shriek. She and Poole were now on their feet, alert and prepared to fight. Only then did she see Joe lying on his back, his backpack sat beside him, staring at the woods in startled alarm

"What the hell's going on?" She exclaimed.

Joe turned around, his expression a painting of shock.

"A Pikachu was rummaging in my backpack!" He stated, "It stole one of my apples... then it tried to electrocute me."

Winter was not at all sympathetic towards him. She put her hands on her hips and gave him a mockingly knowing look. "Well, now you'll know not to leave your backpack open for wild Pokémon to sneak in."

He looked at her, now in shock at her statement. "I didn't leave it open." He insisted.

She didn't seem to care. "You should have expected to draw wild pokemon to you, having fresh fruit in your pack."

"How was I supposed to know-?" Joe began, rising to his feet with his backpack in his arms.

He didn't get to finish that sentence. At that moment there was the sound of branches snapping above them, and a moment later Ralph's face was hanging upside down in front of his.

Joe screamed.

So did Ralph.

So did Winter.

When the branch finally broke away, Ralph landed on the soft leaf-covered ground in front of the two teenagers. Wooden splinters fell around him, covering his hide. He didn't seem to be hurt by the fall, just a little surprised. Not as surprised as Joe had been, however. The Crobat had fallen directly between him and Winter, and he'd gotten a full upside down view of the purple bat's eyes, fangs and screeching mouth. He'd probably have nightmares about that image now.

"Ralph, what on earth are you doing?" The startled boy cried, breathing rapidly.

The fallen crobat lifted himself up onto his four wings, standing with his larger limbs folded to form thin and weak arms. He looked with embarrassment at his consort, and then glanced upwards. They followed his gaze. The branch which he had been sleeping on had broken off, unable to take his weight for so long. It looked like it had not been as sturdy as he had first thought.

Joe sighed and rubbed the back of his head. One day into sleeping in the wilds and he was already missing home. His neck ached, his back hurt, his nerves were shot and his backpack was still steaming and hot. He was covered in leaves and specks of mud. He wanted out of this forest as soon as possible.

"Great idea, staying the night in these woods." Joe muttered coldly.

Winter shot him a glare. "It's going to take us till evening to get through these woods. Would you rather we turn back, get cleaned, and then come back? We'd have to stay in here another night if we did."

Joe admitted that he didn't want that either. Out of the two evils, pressing on was the lesser. He grunted and slid his arms through the straps of his backpack. "Okay." He grunted with displeasure. "Let's get moving."

They pressed on together, through the clustering trees and snagging bushes. Winter had withdrawn Poole back into his Poke Ball and placed it back onto her belt, under the grounds that a water Pokémon would be of little use in a forest. Though the sun was able to shine rays of light through the canopy, most of that light was simply absorbed by the mass of leaves over their heads. Ralph was having difficulty flying, having to avoid low hanging branches and tightly knitted tree trunks. His body was too big to squeeze through many of the gaps that the two teenagers could push through, so in some cases he had to look for another way through.

Joe and Winter were not in a talkative mood. They didn't say anything to each other, possibly out of tiredness, possibly out of distrust, possibly out of anger, possibly out of a mixture of all three. They barely even looked at each other, not wanting to acknowledge their traveling companion. Both felt that the other had dragged them into this, and that if they hadn't met in such a bad way they might have been able to experience a relatively pleasant journey through these woods by themselves.

Eventually the trees began to spread out more, creating small clearings where the two teenagers didn't have to stand so close to each other and walk in single file. The moment they reached one Winter rushed into the open space, inhaled deeply, and sighed with relief.

"Open space!" She exclaimed with a surprising amount of joy. "We must be about halfway through by now. It won't be such a squeeze from here on out."

Joe followed her, relaxing his tensed muscles. He'd hated squeezing through the narrow gaps between the trees, catching his clothing on twigs and cutting his skin or brambles and stinging himself on nettles. He had marks all over his legs and arms, his sleeves and trousers ripped in several different places. He rubbed his wounds to lessen the pain.

Ralph wasn't much better, having gotten a few cuts on his wings from the branches above them. He didn't seem hurt, but the slight marks were evidently annoying him. He descended down besides Joe, however at his companion's side. He tried to smile at him, but Joe didn't smile back. He was too tired and to uncomfortable to force a smile.

"Only halfway?" Joe asked, sounding disheartened. "You're kidding. This place is like a maze."

"Just keep heading north and we'll exit onto Route 2 once more." Winter explained, pointing somewhere ahead of them.

"Don't supposed you have any pokemon that can fly us out of here, do you?" Joe grunted as one of his cuts began to sting.

Winter looked back at him with a flat expression. "No, I don't." She muttered. She then raised a finger. "You do, though."

Joe looked at Ralph. Ralph looked between the two of them, not sure what was being said.

"I don't know if he can take out weight." Joe told her uncertainly. "He's not very big anyway. Don't flying Pokémon have to be pretty big to carry people?"

"Not if you teach them a special move." Winter said, then she faltered. "Though I doubt your purple friend will know that one. I think you need to beat the Fuchsia city gym to get it."

That was on the other side of the region. There was no possibility of getting there before reaching Pewter City then.

"Perhaps he can just fly up above the forest and tell us how far away we are?" Winter suggested.

Joe wasn't so sure about this. He hadn't exactly been good at understanding and communicating with Ralph so far. But to his surprise the Crobat seemed eager to help. He did a sort of mid-air hop and sharply ascended into the trees above. Leafs began to fall down around them, as the purple bat ripped open the canopy with his sharp wing ridges. Light instantly shone down upon Joe, blinding him. He covered his eyes with his hand.

"Wow." He muttered. "Ralph?"

He called up to the creature, which had disappeared beyond the trees. He heard a sharp _'cro'_ back, but wasn't sure what it was supposed to mean.

"What can you see?" Joe called up again.

_'Croo-oo!' _The Crobat called back. He sounded surprised, possibly impressed. He could probably see the entire forest from up there.

"How far are we from the edge of the forest?" Winter shouted up at the high-flying purple bat.

"Give him a moment." Joe snapped at her. "Don't pressure him."

"So-orry." Winter muttered sarcastically, giving him a sideways glare.

The Crobat reappeared over the hole he had made in the canopy, staring down at them. He pointed a wing in the direction which Winter had assumed was north.

_'Croo, Croo-oo!'_ He screeched at them.

"Looks like he found the path." Winter said in realisation. "Call him back down and we can get moving again."

Joe ignored how delighted she seemed to be about being right, and cupped his hands to his mouth. "Ralph, come back!" He bellowed up into the trees.

There was a sharp gust of winds as the Crobat soared back over the trees, making the leaves and branches shudder with his swift movement.

Before he could descent to re-join his party however, something else fell ahead of him.

Joe didn't get a proper chance to look at it. Its body was shadowed by the sun above. It fell from one of the branches and landed on his upturned face, covering his eyes. It was wriggling, hairy and horrible, small enough to sit on his face but large enough to cover his eyes.

Immediately he exclaimed and began shaking his head and body, trying to throw this thing from his face. It wouldn't let go however. He could feel small stumpy feet gripping his cheeks and brow. Whatever it was that gripped his face was squeaking and yelping in surprise, just as he was. Finally he caught a hold of it with his left hand, feeling the hairs dig into his skin. He pulled it from his face, feeling its gripping feet let go of his skin.

Finally he got a good look at the small thing that had landed on his face. It was a caterpillar, or something that looked a lot like a caterpillar. It had a body made of multiple circular segments, all reddish-brown in colour. Many tiny hairs covered its carapace, sticking like pins into his skin. Its head had a bulbous red nose and two tiny black eyes, fixated on him. There was also a horn, cylindrical and white, protruding from the top of its head. As Joe saw its rear body wriggle he spotted another horn at its end, sharper and slightly curved.

Winter had only just realised what was going on behind her, having turned away to start following the direction in which Ralph had pointed. "What are you doing back there?" She began. "Stop being an idiot and let's get g-Good grief, put it down!"

Joe dropped the caterpillar. It landed on the leaves, rolled a few inches away, and then slunk onto its feet. It made a quiet hissing sound, rearing defensively.

"What are you doing picking up a Weedle!" She exclaimed, running to his side with her hands on a Poké Ball. "You could've been stung!"

"It landed on me." Joe muttered, still in shock. The caterpillar was still glaring at him, hissing and wriggling in an attempt to intimidate him.

"You're lucky you didn't get poisoned." Winter muttered, her hand firmly gripped around her Poké Ball. For some reason she wasn't sending its occupant out.

He hadn't recognised it at first, having never seen one up close until now. Of course he had known that Weedle were poisonous, most children in Kanto knew that. They were taught to never antagonise them and to never pick them up, because the barbs on their body contained a strong venom. One sting was all it took to cause a person's body to swell up, and in some people this could cause them to go into anaphylactic shock. On top of that, it was well known that Weedle were the base evolution of Beedrill, and because they were bug Pokémon they evolved very quickly. If angered enough this little creature might choose to evolve in order to fight them properly. The last thing Joe needed was an angry Beedrill to fight off, certainly after his recent ordeal with the creatures.

"This is a perfect opportunity."

He turned to see Winter grinning cunningly. He hated that expression. So far it had meant nothing but further trouble for him. "For what?" He dreaded asking.

She glanced at him, her grin only growing larger. "For you to learn how to catch a Pokémon."

He should have known better than to ask. If he had left without asking perhaps he could have gotten away without being dragged back to face the poisonous little worm.

"Get back here!" Winter grunted, dragging Joe by the arm. He hated how she had the strength to pull him into situations he did not want to face. The girl was so fierce, so strong. He couldn't argue with her. He couldn't fight her. Once she had decided on something she was not going to change her mind. "You can't go around with only one Pokémon forever!"

"Yes I can!" Joe argued back, pulling defiantly against her tenacious grip. "I don't want to catch that thing! I don't need it!"

"Yes you do." Winter finally pulled him back with an almighty tug. Joe found himself stumbling in front of the defensive Weedle once more. The hairy bug didn't seem at all bewildered by the behaviour of the two humans. It only seemed angry at them for disturbing it.

"Anything but a Weedle." Joe pleaded with her. "I'll catch anything else, but not this thing."

"Why not a Weedle?" Winter inquired. "It's perfect for a starting trainer. It's small, weak and easy to catch."

Joe looked for the right words to explain to her his distaste for the creature. It wasn't so much what it was right now that he didn't like. It was what it would inevitably become that concerned him.

"I had a bad experience with a couple of its later evolutions recently." He muttered darkly. "I'd rather not have further trouble with those things."

"But this won't be some wild Beedrill by then." Winter argued in an attempt to encourage him. "It'll be _your_ Pokémon. It will obey you."

She couldn't guarantee that. There were plenty of horror stories where captured Pokémon had disobeyed their trainers, some going so far as to attack them. She couldn't guarantee that this this, once fully evolved, would not do the same.

Winter was starting to get annoyed with him. "Look, if you don't want to keep it you can get rid of it once we reach Pewter City." She snapped at him, giving him a sharp shove towards the bug. "Now man up and catch that bug!"

She unzipped Joe's backpack and pulled from it an empty Poké Ball. He turned on her the moment he felt the zipper being pulled, but her swift movement allowed her to take what she wanted before he could stop her. She handed him the ball, still grinning with that alarming cunning. Joe could only accept the ball from her, and she closed his fingers around it, stopping him from trying to drop it or put it away again. Her glare reinforced this.

"Okay." Joe grunted, not at all happy with this situation.

He turned back towards the Weedle. The hairy caterpillar was still glaring at him, still writhing defensively. Sticky globules of web for were forming under its bulbous nose, probably in preparation to attack. Where had Ralph gotten to? Why wasn't he with him? Why wasn't he protecting his trainer from this wild creature that wanted to hurt him? Why was no one helping him?

Joe threw the Poké Ball. He couldn't stop himself. His muscles acted without instruction from his brain. His eyes followed the red and white sphere sail through the air and descend towards its target.

The Weedle spat web out at it. For a moment Joe wondered if this would stop the ball in its tracks. It didn't do anything to change the trajection of the Poké Ball. All it did was cover it in a layer of sticky string. A brief expression of alarm crossed its face, before the ball struck it in the head. It opened with a mechanical pop, and the Weedle was sucked inside with a red beam of energy.

Just as quickly as it had opened, the ball snapped shut again, dropping to the floor and rolling a few inches. It continued to move after this, shaking and shuddering. It moved once, twice, thrice... and then clicked shut.

It took a few seconds for Joe's brain to acknowledge what had just happened in front of him. When it did it left him uncertain of his feelings. On the one hand he had just caught his first Pokémon, which was a big achievement in itself, regardless of the trainer's innate talent. On the other hand that first Pokémon was a Weedle, and he had only caught it because he was pressured into doing so.

"Alright." Winter exclaimed, cheering for him. That was also strange, considering how she had spoken to him only moments ago. "I said you could do it. Congrats!"

He took a few steps to where the Weedle had been stood only a few seconds ago. The Poké Ball was now motionless. It hadn't shrunk as they would usually do when empty and stored away. It remained in its proper size, big enough to fill his hand. He picked it up, looking at it as if it wasn't quite real. He didn't feel very proud of himself. Any other trainer might have been delighted at this achievement, but he wasn't. Was that normal?

"Now comes the challenge of naming it." Winter declared. "That's the best part."

Joe turned to her, astounded at how quickly she moved from one subject to another.

"One problem at a time." He muttered.

Suddenly there was movement from the canopy above. Joe looked up, only to see Ralph descending towards him. He jumped backwards, almost dropping the recently used Poké Ball, as the Crobat landed on the ground, shaking leaves from his body and spitting them out from his mouth.

"Where the hell have you been?" Joe asked, startled.

_'Cro!'_ Ralph exclaimed, shouting at his companion. _'Cro cro cro-bat!'_ He was pointing his wing vigorously at the foliage ahead of them, crowing wildly.

"I don't understand." Joe groaned. He was too tired to play a game of charades with his Pokémon. It had been a long day already, full of too much stress.

"He's saying that something coming towards us." Winter realised suddenly. Joe spun around to face her. He would have asked how she had interpreted this if she hadn't been proven right moments later.

The undergrowth began to rustle in the direction which Ralph was pointing. The three of them turned towards it. Something was indeed approaching them, and quickly too. The branches of the trees began to sway, and leaves flew around them upon a rising wind.

From the shadows of the forest something stepped out into the clearing.


	9. Chapter 7 - An Unlikely Team

The thing which was now before the two teenagers and the crobat was... difficult to describe. This was not because it was so abstract and excessively detailed, in fact it was because of the opposite reason. There was barely anything to describe.

The _thing_, whatever it was, was little more than a pile of wobbling, squelching, pinkish flesh. It was about the size of a shoe and it had the physical consistency of a plate of jelly. It was, at least assumedly, a living creature. It had a pair of beady black eyes and a slit mouth that ran from one edge of its morphing body to the other. It came sliding out of the undergrowth using the edges of its flesh like a row of fat, stumpy millipede legs. It stopped moving when it saw the two teenagers, and its tiny eyes focused on them.

Joe raised his eyebrows, half convinced he was imagining the odd creature. "What... is... that?!" He muttered in disgust. "Is that a Pokémon?"

"I don't know." Winter muttered back.

"That's a first. I thought you were an experienced trainer."

"That doesn't mean I've seen every Pokémon before. There's a lot of them out there. Most people don't see more than thirty species in their lifetime. "

_"Crooo..."_ Ralph crowed with distrust.

"What should we do about it?" Joe asked, hoping that he would get some useful advice.

"You could try catching it." Winter suggested.

Joe exclaimed in disgust. "Thanks, but I'm not a big fan of jelly. I'd rather not."

"You could try getting Ralph to scare it away, but we don't know how it might react." She told him.

"It doesn't look especially dangerous." He responded.

"I can hear you two, you know!"

The two teenagers jumped, almost launching themselves backwards into a tree with shock. Their eyes were fixed upon the wobbling pink blob, and its eyes were fixed on them. Its slit mouth was now frowning. A second later it opened.

"Oh yes, isn't it amazing! A talking Pokémon! How impossible!" The little fleshy creature stated with annoyance and disrespect. One of the fleshy lumps upon its side moved in an unreadable gesture, possibly supposed to be an uninterested hand wave. "I've heard it all before. Get it outta your system so we can stop with the awkward staring."

Joe realised that his mouth was hanging open, and he promptly closed it. "What... are you?" He asked.

"Ditto." The thing responded.

Joe, Winter and Ralph all shared a confused look.

"We didn't say anything for you to agree with." Winter muttered, utterly baffled by the thing's response.

_"Croooooo..."_ Ralph agreed.

The amorphous creature shook its _'head'_ vigorously. "No, no. That's what I _am_. I'm a Ditto!" It explained. "Come on, surely you kids have heard of Dittos before." The blank expressions it got suggested that they hadn't. "Really... You've never seen Mr. Fantabulous' Ditto Circus on TV? I was a part of that crew for a while, actually. You've never seen the act where one ditto has to fit through progressively smaller hoops... really, never?"

Only a set of blank faces for a response.

"Bloody hell..." The ditto muttered, wiping the area above its eyes with one of its fleshy pseudopods. "Kids today, they ain't so bright."

"What are you doing out here?" Winter asked, still very confused. "In fact, while I'm asking questions; how did you get here, where did you come from, and how can you talk?"

The fleshy creature looked flustered. "Jeez, love, don't pile so many questions on a person at once. You could at least ask my name, first."

"Okay then." Winter blinked, the plausibility of this scenario now getting to her. "What's your name?"

The ditto hunched up its lower layer of flesh and grinned widely with its narrow mouth. "Well, since you asked so politely..." It coughed and gave a sort of half bow, which was the most it could achieve with a body that was barely solid. "My name is..."

"FRAAAAAAANNNKKKK!"

The shouted echoed through the trees like a thunderclap. The branches swayed in its wake, and any nearby nesting bird Pokémon that had not already fled the area were now taking flight in panic. Ralph let out a startled grunt and his ears shrivelled and curled up. Joe patted him comfortingly on the back, though it didn't do much good.

The pink pile of living flesh moved its stumpy arms away from its head area and chuckled nervously. "That's my name." It muttered.

"WHERE ARE YOU, FRANK?!" The voice shouted through the woods again.

"Over here!" The ditto that was apparently named Frank shouted back into the woods behind him.

There was the sudden sound of approaching footsteps. Now Joe was starting to feel more uncomfortable and more concerned. This thing was apparently not alone. He dared not imagine the kind of company that an annoying, grotesque creature like this would keep. Fortunate he wouldn't have to. Whoever it was that had been calling for the little fleshy thing was nearly upon them.

Two humans stepped through the brush and tree shadows. They were most certainly human, or at the very least humanoid. They definitely weren't Pokémon. From what Joe could see with his two youthful and inexperienced human eyes was what appeared to be another two teenagers; a boy and a girl. For a brief moment he wondered if he was looking at a mirror. That possibility went out the window when he took in the newcomer's details.

The boy, who was about sixteen, was dressed in a greyish black jumpsuit with a red jacket over it. His bright green hair was cut into ragged strands that hung down the side of his head and over his face untidily. The girl was a bit taller and a bit older. Her dark blue hair had been allowed to grow long, falling over her shoulders like a cascade of murky water. At the back it had been tied into a long ponytail. She too was wearing a black jumpsuit with a red jacket over it. Apparently these two had the same bizarre dress sense. The most unusual aspect of their clothing however was the insignia upon the breast pocket of their jackets. It looked like a playing card, sewn onto the fabric rather crudely. At a distance Joe had to make a guess at which card they were wearing. The boy appeared to be wearing the Ace of Clubs, while the girl was wearing what looked to be the Ace of Diamonds.

If Joe had tried to imagine what the first trainers he would encounter in this forest would look like, they wouldn't have looked like this. He couldn't fathom why they would want to wear such unusual clothing. Surely they must be boiling with all of that clothing on. The forest was not especially warm at this time of year, but even he was feeling a slightly discomforting heat under his hoodie. How were they not sweating themselves to death right now?

The green haired boy glanced at the blue haired girl, then they both glanced down at the pudgy flesh creature by their feet.

"Who are these brats?" The girl asked, adding an unnecessary amount of venom to her words.

"Have you been trying to make friends, Frank?" The boy mocked, his grinning gaze still upon the unusual Pokémon.

The little pink creature smiled back uncomfortable, embarrassed by the suggestion. "No, of course not." It insisted, holding its short, chubby limbs up. "With these losers? I'd rather be squashed into jelly by a rampaging Tauros."

"Hold on." Winter spoke up on behalf of herself and Joe. "We were having a nice conversation only a moment ago. We haven't done anything to deserve these insults. We were just minding our own business, then you three walked out here."

"Another couple of newbies lost in the woods." The green haired boy said with a wry grin.

"I thought we'd scared everyone off." The girl continued for him.

Joe had been wondering why there were no other trainers around. Viridian forest was a popular place for beginning trainers to practice and gain experience. He could understand not running into many trainers at night, but during the day the entire forest should have been full of them.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" The boy asked, turning to his female counterpart beside him.

She grinned back at him. "I think I am." She said slyly.

The ditto suddenly looked alarmed. "Now, hold on, guys. It wasn't that long ago when we last did this? It's really exhausting, I need a break!"

"Stop complaining and get ready!" The girl snapped, suddenly showing an aggressive side to her personality. Her hand was slowly and surreptitiously reaching behind her back.

The creature looked like it wanted to argue, but it gave up and sighed with exasperation. "Alright."

"We're not looking for trouble..." Winter began, picking up the mood that now filled that patch of forest. Her comment fell on deaf ears, however, as the two matching trainers reached behind their backs.

"Well, you've found it." The boy told her, still grinning with a wide mouth full of shinning teeth.

"A couple of weakling trainers like you won't amount to much," The girl muttered coldly, "but all the same, it might be worth it."

"I've been a trainer for two years!" Winter snapped back at her, growing a little angry with the unnecessary insults being thrown their way.

_"Croo!"_ Ralph added, standing up for himself and for Joe, who was took shocked and confused to say anything in his defence.

"Two years isn't enough, I'm afraid." The boy declared. "Not against us Ace Trainers."

Ace trainers? Joe had heard that term used before. It was supposed to describe very experienced and capable members of the trainer community, usually those who held no other titles to their name. These two appeared to take that title rather literally, however. Sewing playing cards into their jackets couldn't have been necessary.

Winter scoffed, "You two, Ace trainers? I doubt it. You look more like clowns."

"You take that back-!" The boy growled. He was grabbed by the collar before he could march across the clearing and confront the insolent ginger. The blue haired girl held onto him, pulling his collar so tightly that it dug into the boy's neck. She had him in her grip like a dog trainer reeling in an especially aggressive Pitbull.

"Who are you people?" Joe finally managed to ask, having just now overcome his initial shock.

The two older, more extravagantly dressed trainers looked at him, stopping their small feud for a moment to answer his question. A prideful smile formed on both their faces, fuelled by a most likely unwarranted ego.

"Who are we? The girl asked, letting go of her companion's collar and allowing him to breathe again. "Well, we'll tell you?" She put her clenched hands upon her narrow hips, and Joe could visibly see that her right hand was gripping a Poké Ball.

"We're the ultimate duo!" The boy exclaimed, holding his arms wide in an embracing pose. "A pair of experienced and intelligent trainers with some of the strongest Pokémon and the greatest strategies!"

"We aim to gather fame, money and power!" The girl joined in, holding her head high. "More than everyone else in the world combined!"

"We will surpass the limits set by those who came before us, and become the greatest Pokémon trainers in the region... no, the entire world! The boy declared.

"We will make history, and set the bar for everyone who comes after us." The girl announced.

The two of them stood back to back now, extending their arms at the baffled watchers, a Poké Ball held by each of them.

"Ross Grey!" The boy declared.

"Rita Grey!" The girl declared.

"And Frank!" The ditto joined in.

"Don't forget the name!" The three said together. "Because becoming famous is our game!"

Joe, Winter and Ralph all stared at the opposing trio with mouths agape. It took a couple of seconds for the performance they had just witnessed to be processed.

When it finally registered in his mind, Joe began to laugh.

He tried to be polite, and pretend that he was coughing, but the laughter came booming out of his throat. His chest heaved and ached but he couldn't stop. His tear ducts began to shed, but he did nothing to halt them. The sheer absurdity of what he had just witnessed, the bizarre self-confidence that these three had, had thrown him into a state of complete bemusement. He started to hear Winter chuckle beside him, and pretty soon she was laughing wildly too. Even Ralph was laughing, or at least he was crowing in a way that sounded like laughter.

The two older trainers were glaring at them, not amused at all.

"Stop laughing!" The green haired boy named Ross snapped. His request got no response, and the three watchers continued to laugh while clutching their stomachs and wiping their eyes. "I said stop it!" He snapped again. Still they didn't listen to him. He probably would have approached them if the blue haired girl named Rita hadn't grabbed him by the collar again.

"What's so funny?" She inquired, keeping her voice as calm as she could manage. Even so, it was evident in her expression that she too was angry at them.

Joe tried to breathe slower and managed to calm himself down enough to speak clearly without wheezing or coughing. "You three are going to become famous?!" He asked, having to stifle a guffaw at the end of his sentence, which instead lead to a violent coughing fit.

"Yes." Rita said calmly, though her right eye was twitching slightly.

"You three, control the world?" Winter repeated, slapping her chest to stop herself from choking on her own saliva.

"Yes!" Rita repeated, her left eye now twitching as well.

"You three honestly think you're that great?" Winter told them, standing up straight as she finally managed to stop laughing. "I've seen flailing Magikarp more impressive than you three!"

_"Cro!" _Ralph agreed.

A unified glare from three pairs of eyes met the amused perspective of the younger trainers. It appeared they didn't get the joke. In fact they found the joke to be quite offensive.

"You'll see." Rita hissed, her narrow tongue protruding slightly through her thin lips and gritted teeth. "You laugh now, but wait until next year... no, until next month! By then all of Kanto will know our names. We'll be hailed as the strongest team of trainers in the region. Team Ace!"

"That's the name you're going with?" Winter mused, still grinning though the laughter had died down for the most part. "Couldn't you be more imaginative than simply naming yourself after playing cards?"

"Simple names are remembered best." Ross reasoned. "And people recognise the imagery. Everyone knows what cards are in a deck, and they'll associate us with those cards too."

"Oh yeah, the Ace of Diamonds and the Ace of Clubs?" Winter continued to mock them. "Why not the Queen of Hearts or the Ace of Spades? You both certainly fit titles like that."

"Actually, I'm the Ace of Spades!" Frank the amorphous pink blob joined in.

"Not officially." Rita reminded him quickly.

Frank shot her a look of surprise that rapidly melded into irritation. "I thought we agreed on this already?!" He complained.

"We'll discuss this later!" Rita hissed back. Instantly Frank's unruly mood was shot down, and he shrunk back into passive obedience.

"Why playing cards, though?" Joe asked, still amused but also baffled. "Why not just call yourselves the Greys?" He pointed at them with a questioning and cautious finger. "You two are siblings, right?"

"Cousins, actually." Rita corrected him.

"Like we would want to be associated with our family." Ross snapped over Rita's comment. "Our fathers are already millionaires. We don't want to be lumped in with them. We want to forge our own identity, one that isn't attached to their notoriety."

As much as Joe found their ideals, appearance and goal ridiculous, he did admire that one notion at least. He could understand wanting to be known for their merits, not those of their family. Still, they didn't need to be so... extreme. Surely the ridiculous matching costumes, the card motif and the talking Ditto was a little overkill.

"You're all talk, no action." Winter taunted them, folding her arms across her chest. "Some ace team you are. You can't even take a few jokes about your fashion sense."

The thought crossed Joe's mind that perhaps taunting them was not the best decisions. As silly as these three may seem, they clearly had some amount of wealth. Though their clothing was ridiculous, it looked expressive, most likely custom made. Keeping their hair in such unnatural shades of colour probably wasn't cheap, either. If they did indeed have money, perhaps they also had influence, or more concerning, strong Pokémon. If that were the case, maybe taunting and angering them wasn't such a good idea. A few light-hearted jokes they could get away with, but if they went too far...

That thought became all the more concerning when Joe saw Rita grinning at him. It wasn't a happy grin or a humorous grin. No, that face could only portray negative emotions. Most likely, her grin was a grin of malicious intent.

"You want action, do you?" The blue haired rich girl rhetorically asked. "Okay then, we'll give you some action." She rolled the Poké Ball around in her palm, pushing and turning it with her fingers. "My dad has a saying... be careful what you ask of a millionaire, they'll find a way to make it benefit them."

"That's a rubbish saying." Winter continued, apparently not picking up on the mood that was now taking over the scene. Joe felt that a fight was approaching. Be it between humans or Pokémon, it was not a fight he wanted to be part of.

"Cro cro-cro-crobat!" Ralph added.

Frank flushed red, and the upper half of his fleshy body stretched and expanded defensively. "That is slander!" He blurted out. "How dare you suggest such a thing?!"

Ralph only seemed to chuckle in response. Joe had no idea what he had said, but it was definitely not something nice. So much for diplomacy. His companions had already escalated the situation beyond a simple conversation.

"You think we're just talk?" Rita continued, now clenched the Poké Ball tightly in her hand. "Then it's time we stopped talking."

"You want to prove you're better than us?" Winter taunted further. "Then prove it!"

Joe now thoroughly regretted letting her drag him into this. He should have fought harder against her back at the Pokémon Centre. Perhaps he could have avoided this needless confrontation. Now she was dragging him into a fight, not just a quarrel or a bit of practice sparring but and actual battle. He could see the two rich kids clutching their Poké Balls, and even Frank looked happy to let loose, though Joe wasn't sure what he would do if he did.

"Hang on..." Joe interrupted, trying to de-escalate the situation. "...we don't need to go this far-"

"Don't be such a girl!" The ginger haired girl snapped back at him, severely damaging his masculinity. "This is the perfect chance for you to learn how to fight other trainers."

"Does it have to be so... aggressive?" He asked, whimpering slightly after her harsh insults.

"When you're up against nobs like this, yes it does." She quipped back.

"I'll beat the crap out of you for that!" Ross snarled, his rabid dog personality showing itself once again.

"You'd openly admit to attacking a girl?" Winter retorted, picking up on the social taboo.

"I don't consider gingers to be human, let alone female."

Winter's eyes lit up like lasers, glowing blood red in the dark of the forest. There was no going back now. They had just started a war.

Joe heard his companion growl "Oh it is on!" before reaching for a Poké Ball and throwing it out onto the leaf covered ground between the two groups. Poole the Poliwhirl appeared, acting calm even though he could see the anger and violent desire in the eyes of both his opponent and his trainer.

"One on three?" Rita chuckled. "This'll be over quick."

"Don't just stand there with your mouth open!" Winter hissed across at Joe, still glaring with at Ross with veins bulging out of her eyes. "Send Ralph out to help me!"

"Why do I have to get involved?" Joe hissed back.

"Why are you so slow?!" Winter snapped at him unkindly. "They're going to fight us both. This is a double battle, and we both need to take part."

"Can't you just send out another Pokémon?"

Winter now glanced across at him, her expression surprisingly flat considering the anger in her voice. "I only have Poole with me. I need you to provide backup."

Joe blinked at her. "I thought you caught Pokémon for a living." He said.

"I told you, I sell most of the ones I catch. The only Pokémon I actually own is Poole."

"And you said you were an experienced trainer." Joe muttered.

"Do you want to do this now?" Winter snarled, giving him a demanding glare.

"Fine." Joe made a small gesture with his hand. "Ralph, I need you, buddy."

Ralph took a moment to figure out what Joe was instruction. He took his place on the leafy field, beside Poole. The two Pokémon shared a small glance before readying themselves to fight.

The opposing duo were yet to release their Pokémon.

"We were getting along quite well earlier." Frank murmured as he slid out onto the field. "To think it would come to this so quickly." He turned back to his two human team members. "Who do you want me to be this time?"

Rita reached into her jacket and pulled out what looked to be a photograph. She handed it down to the ditto, who took it between his two tiny, pudgy limbs.

The small mass of pink flesh began to grin malevolently, and from his narrow mouth he let out a small chuckle. "I see." He said evilly. "Well, this fight won't last long."

Joe would have asked what they were doing if he'd had the chance. Before he could get the first word in the sentence to leave his lips, the ditto member of Team Ace dropped the photograph and began to swell up. Its body expanded rapidly, the exterior layer of flesh swirling and bulging and boiling. It was both disgusting and entrancing at the same time. Joe felt that he would throw up, yet he could not look away. Never had he witnessed such a transformation before. Within the span of a few seconds the small pink thing had grown to ten times its original height. From its body it grew limbs; arms, legs, a neck and a head. The creature that had once been bizarre and unthreatening was now an imposing giant.

When the transformation was complete, what stood upon Team Ace's side of the battlefield was no long a small, pudgy, pink ditto. It was now a tall, muscular humanoid, with grey skin, a beaked mouth and four powerful arms. Joe did not know of many Pokémon outside of the ones owned by his Uncle, but he knew this one. It was hard not to recognise a Machamp.

Frank examined his new body, flexing his arms and pounding his knuckles together, digging his feet into the ground and stirring up grass and dirt. He seemed to like his new shape. How he had achieved it was not clear. "Oh I've missed this form!" He exclaimed in delight, taking a quick moment to feel his own abs. "When I'm done, there'll be nothing left of you but a pile of pulp!"

Finally Winter was starting to show the same fear that had been on Joe's mind for the last few minutes. She was beginning to realise that they were in actual danger now. "That's not fair!" She muttered in nervous objection, not that she expected her complains to change anything.

"Life's not fair." Frank grunted back, cracking his knuckles in unison. "Better get used to it now."

Joe felt the sweat begin to slither down his scalp. Their opponent had a Pokémon that could change shape. What else might they have up their sleeves?

"You've got this, Ralph." Joe said, no strategic thought passing through his mind. The crobat turned to him, looking betrayed. Even he was intimidated by the size and strength of their opponent.

"That's not all." Ross declared. He pulled his arm back in unison with Rita, and together they hurled their Poké Balls at the ground ahead of them.

As they burst open, two new and similar looking creatures appeared in a flash of red. They appeared to be a pair of rabbits; one light blue, the other pinkish purple. Although they had the recognisable buck teeth and large ears associated with any other species of the _Lagomorpha _family, these bunnies were covered all over in thick, sharp spines. It didn't take much intuition for Joe to realise how poisonous those spines were. He could see the small dribbles of purple ooze leaking out of the tips.

"Three Pokémon at once?" Winter raised an eyebrow. "That's against the rules of acceptable battle."

"We're making a change to the rules." Rita asserted. "Surely if you're such talented trainers you'll be able to defeat three Pokémon quite easily, won't you."

Winter was snarling now. She was being upstaged, mocked. She looked like a rabid dog ready to rip the other girl's throat out. What had they gotten into? This was turning from an unfortunate yet resolvable situation into utter chaos.

_"Cro-o"_ Ralph grunted as he gave Joe a very concerned look. He could tell that this fight wouldn't end well, just as Joe was suspecting.

They only had the two Pokémon to battle with, and Joe wasn't even slightly experience at battling yet. He had fought a few trainers on the way to the forest, yes, but they had been newcomers to the sport like himself. Ralph was strong, but he needed Joe to guide him, and Joe wasn't sure he could manage that responsibility. He hadn't wanted this responsibility in the first place. Perhaps Winter could do most of the fighting and he and Ralph could back her up and support her, but he doubted she would look kindly on that. She would probably call him a coward, and if she was really angry she might add something new to his already ridiculously sized debt.

Winter muttered something incomprehensible to herself, then, without looking at him, she hissed "Hurry up and get it out!"

"Sorry?" Joe whispered back, snapping out of his thoughts.

"Your weedle. Get your weedle out of its Poké Ball and send it out to fight."

Joe continued to stare at her. "It's not really mine yet..." He said weakly, still trying to pretend that he wasn't a Pokémon trainer. "I only just caught it... and it's tiny... and probably quite weak... I doubt it'll be of much help."

"Just send it out already!" She snarled.

Not wanting there to be any more arguments, shouting or chaotic bickering, Joe did as he was told. He unclipped the freshly used pokéball from his belt and looked down at it. It fit his hand so snugly, rolling around on his palm. He barely knew the creature that was now living inside. Only a few minutes ago it had landed on his head. Now he would have to rely on it in a battle. Life had a strange way of twisting and turning the very simple path he was trying to walk.

"Go, Weedle!" He exclaimed as he threw the ball out onto the grassy battle field. It popped open, and the hairy worm Pokémon fell out of it. It seemed startled. Perhaps it had been expecting to find itself in a brand new environment, or perhaps it was simply getting used to being an owned Pokémon now. It was most definitely surprised when it spotted the three Pokémon opposing it. It looked up at Frank for a while, it's usually small black eyes now large and horrified.

"A weedle?" Ross said, amused. "Really, that's what you're going to send out to fight us? That little worm?"

"Big talk for a boy who uses his pet rabbit as a guard dog." Winter snapped back. "Did you catch those nidoran yourself, or did your daddies buy them off a breeder."

Joe looked at the two spiny rabbits, which he assumed were the nidoran that Winter had mentioned. Beside the venomous horns that covered their bodies, they weren't especially fearsome creatures. But he was not stupid enough to assume that meant they weren't dangerous at all. Those spikes looked like they would hurt if jabbed into his flesh, and he had no intention of walking all the way back to Viridian City to get their poison removed from his bloodstream.

"Enough talking already!" Rita declared, holding her cousin back as he yet again went to physically confront their opponents. "We've got three Pokémon each now... so let's get this battle started!"

Joe's lack of understanding on how Pokémon battles were managed came back to haunt him yet again. He may not have paid much attention to the battles his uncle watched on TV, but he was pretty certain that there was supposed to be a referee or a judge, or someone who could declare the rules and make sure that both sides were playing fair. In this battle there was no one to fill that role. Winter had been playing that role until now, but this time she was a part of the fighting herself. This time there would be no rules, it seemed. Was this how battles were conducted in the wilds or on the routes? Anything goes, no matter how dangerous?

That appeared to be the case. Winter hadn't even released her only Pokémon yet, and already their opponents were attacking. Frank stampeded across the field, moving astoundingly fast upon his new burly legs, and tackled Ralph to the ground before Joe could even blink. He had the crobat pinned with a hand gripping each wing and pushing it into the earth.

"Ralph!" Joe screamed. He would have thrown himself on the false machamp if this were not supposed to be a Pokémon battle. Even he knew that the trainer was not supposed to physically assist their Pokémon, only instruct them and heal them if allowed and possible. But watching the creature he had been told to deliver – that he had been told to protect – being hurt so easily made his heart stop and his fists clench. He had to do something.

It took a moment for him to remember the other Pokémon under his command. He looked down at the weedle, which was looking back up at him. It didn't seem especially keen to fight, or to follow his instructions, but Joe could see the understanding in its tiny black eyes. It knew that if it didn't fight it would probably get beaten up really bad, along with its allies and its trainer. For that reason it was deciding to accept its current situation and work with this human rather than against him.

"Okay... okay..." Joe exhaled, preparing himself. He hadn't enjoyed battling. He hated the idea of hurting Pokémon, even if the battles were legally conducted and the Pokémon themselves wanted to fight. He doubted he ever would like it. But right now Ralph was being hurt. If he didn't fight, his companion would be seriously hurt, perhaps worse. He didn't want to have to ask others to help him, but what else could he do. He couldn't allow this crobat to be hurt. This time he had to act. Like he had done upon the hillside only a day before... he would protect this crobat. "Weedle... uh..." He thought of a move that the creature would probably know.

"String shot!" Winter snapped across to him.

"Use string shot!"

He wasn't sure what to expect from this attack. Would the little worm just spew a load of foam at the opponent? Could worms even produce string or silk?

That question was answered immediately, as the weedle lunged its bulbous nose forward and sprayed from it a pale white strand of sticky rope-like goo. Though much of the string landed pathetically upon the ground, some of it reached its target. Frank exclaimed in surprise as the silk landed on his back. It didn't appear to hurt him, but apparently it was cold and uncomfortable enough to catch his attention. He began trying to wipe it off, all the while exclaiming in disgust, especially when the sticky substance caught between his fingers.

While this attack had done nothing to harm the massive muscular Pokémon, it had done one beneficial thing. It had distracted Frank, and given Ralph and chance to break free and fight back, which was exactly what he did. While Frank was trying to wipe the silk off his back, Ralph slipped his wings free and bit down hard upon his attacker's shoulder. His sharp fangs buried into his skin and muscles, and by the look on Frank's rapidly whitening face he was now attempting to drain blood from whatever veins and vessels he had just pierced.

That revelation made Joe panic. "Ralph, stop!" He called. Though the bloodsucking appeared to cease a moment later, Ralph kept his fangs in his opponent's neck. While these people were set upon battling them, that didn't mean they had to try and kill them in retaliation.

"Incoming on your left!" Winter warned him.

Joe turned back to the area of opening in front of him and saw the purple nidoran creature hopping quickly towards him and his recently caught weedle. Ralph was still distracted with the four armed wrestler and Winter was already dealing with the other paler skinned rabbit, so the little hairy worm was all that stood between the attacker and him. It didn't look especially intimidating, but then again neither did his weedle. The rabbit was several inches larger than the hairy worm, and it had sharp spines and strong buck teeth to defend itself with. All his weedle had was a couple of venomous barbs and a lot of silk. He had already seen how useful the silk was. All it had done to Frank was annoy him.

"Winter!" Joe called nervously across to her. "What do I do?"

"Tell your weedle to attack it!" She snapped back.

"I don't think it has any attacks that will work." He responded nervously, sharing a similar expression with his Pokémon, which was now backing away from the larger opponent.

"Oh for goodness' sake!" The redheaded girl yelled in exasperation. "Either tell it to use Poison Sting or String Shot! It doesn't really matter which, just fight back!"

Poole shoved the blue nidoran back with both palms. Her Pokémon seemed to be managing fine, and while Ralph was still latched onto Frank's shoulder he was managing to fend for himself. It was just Joe that was struggling, him and his pathetic little worm.

The weedle glanced back at him. There was no trust in its eyes. Joe wasn't sure why he was surprised by that. Had he really been expecting it to just trust him straight after being caught? If he had been dropped from a tree onto a person's face and then shoved inside a cramped ball he probably wouldn't trust them either. He hadn't even wanted to catch the poor thing. The first chance he got he would release it. First he had to win this fight, however, and in order to do so he had to rely on this unwilling creature. Even if he could find the strength to put his trust in this little creature it wouldn't be enough. Trust was a two-way system. His weedle would have to trust him too.

While both the trainer and the worm had been staring at each other, the purple rabbit had been drawing closer, bounding forward with long, low leaps. It was almost upon them when they both returned their attention to it. Joe had to act quickly. He had to order the weedle to attack. Even if that attack didn't work, he had to help it defend itself, just like he had done with Ralph.

"Poison Sting!"

A glimmer of understanding flashed deep within the invertebrate's eyes. Though it had probably never heard a human give it a battle command before, it seemed to instinctively know what those two words meant. Just like with the string shot command, the weedle knew what to do.

The hairy worm Pokémon lowered its head and wriggled forwards, lurching its body in a sharp movement. Its head was lowered and the poisonous barb at its tip was aimed at the rabbit's forehead. The two creatures collided skulls with a soft yet audible bash. Their horns clashed like sabres, each using the protruding spike to push back against their opponent, each trying to jab them with the venomous tip.

Ultimately this short skirmish came down to a battle of raw physical strength, and in that area the purple nidoran outplayed the weedle with ease. It shoved the worm Pokémon back with the power and grace of a sumo wrestler, causing it to roll like a ring back across the grass. It eventually fell onto its side by Joe's right foot, dazed from the tussle it had just experienced.

"That's the best your little worm can do?" Ross Grey mocked, pointing at Joe and his weedle and laughing cruelly. "You're such a pathetic trainer! I hope the rest of the trainers around here are as simple as you, that way we can achieve our goals even quicker."

Joe was hardly perturbed by the mocking comments of his opponent. Instead his concerned were with his newest Pokémon. The weedle's head was spinning gently around and around, allowing it to quickly develop motion sickness. He bent down to comfort it, though he was cautious not to touch its barbs. The little worm curled up, not allowing him to get close, and it let out a small, bubbly hiss. This battle was not going well. Not only was he losing the fight, he was also losing the confidence and trust of his newest, weakest Pokémon. Ross was right, he was a pathetic trainer. He had already allowed Ralph to be hurt by his careless actions. On top of that he knew nothing about being a trainer or about caring for freshly caught Pokémon. No wonder it didn't trust him, he didn't have the talent or the learning to protect it, to instruct it on what to do.

The weedle began to hiccup, and from its bulbous nose it spewed a globule of greenish silk. The poor thing had just thrown up. That was another think Joe could hate himself for. The first Pokémon he had ever caught had been badly hurt in its first battle and was now throwing up next to his shoe. A small trail of silk was hanging from the nauseous creature's nose, leading across the grass in a small trail. As it wriggled around to get back onto its feet the trail came with it, and so did the grass. Several segments of thin green reed were ripped out of the ground, still attached to the sticky silk.

An idea suddenly sparked in Joe's mind. He was ashamed to admit it had come from seeing one of his Pokémon in pain, but if it worked it could bring a quick end to this pointless battle. At the very least it might slow down their opponent a little, or perhaps trip them up, either physically or mentally.

"Weedle, I need you to use string shot on our opponent." Joe whispered, now on his knees beside the unwell Pokémon. The weedle looked at him grumpily and let out another bubbling hiss. "I know, I know, I'm sorry. I'm a rubbish trainer." Joe apologised, trying as best he could to get across a sense of humility to the creature. "I don't know what I'm doing, and you're the first Pokémon I've ever caught. We both don't want to deal with this but we both have to work together to get through it. I know you don't like me, but help me this one time and I'll promise to repay you. Once this is over I'll set you free."

He didn't expect the weedle to look surprised by that final statement. It looked at him with its tiny black eyes, and Joe got a strong impression that it felt remorseful. He had no idea why. He was the one who had failed it, not the other way round.

It narrowed its small eyes and gave him a steely nod. Against all hope and logic it had decided to put its trust in him. Joe felt a warmness in his heart, a pride in what he had just accomplished. He only hoped he wouldn't screw it up.

"You done conferring over there?" Ross taunted, flexing his fingers upon his outstretched arm. "We're supposed to be battling, remember."

Joe pushed himself back onto his feet. He looked at his opponent now with a new sense of confidence. It was not an especially grandiose or excessive feeling, just a small hope that perhaps he could come out of this fight as the victor. He quickly glanced back down at his weedle, and it looked back up at him with similar confidence.

"String Shot!" Joe called.

The little hairy worm began to spew long strands of sticky silk from its round nose, throwing them all across the ground. Several landed on the nidoran's hide, but it barely seemed to notice.

Ross laughed. "Is that it? I was expecting something a bit more... well, more!"

"Again!" Joe continued. Once more, his weedle fired several strands of string across the grass, and again a few of them landed on the chuckling nidoran.

"I don't know why you're bothering." Ross said in bemusement. "It's not doing anything."

Joe didn't retaliate. He didn't do anything more than give commands, as a Pokémon trainer was supposed to do.

"Again, weedle!"

Ross' smile started to fall. The humour of the situation was starting to fade. Now he was just confused. "What do you expect to gain from this?" He asked. "You're just covering the ground in silk.

"One more time!"

Weedle shot an extra-long strand of sticky substance, this time coating the entirety of nidoran's face. Only a single eye was left visible behind the gooey silk, which was now starting to drip from its forehead horn. It wasn't just the rabbit Pokémon's face that was covered. The entire right side of its body, from spines to feet, were coated in the stuff.

The smile on Ross' face was now completely gone. Joe could see the fear rise in his expression as he only just began to realise what his opponent had done.

"Nettle, use tackle!" He bellowed.

The purple rabbit – which appeared to be called Nettle – lurched forwards, and then fell back into place. The strands of string that covered its body were sticking into place, tying it to the ground. No matter how hard it struggled and fought against it, the adhesive rope would not let go. It couldn't raise its feet because they were stuck to the string covered ground. It couldn't struggle free because all of its limbs were glued against its body. It couldn't make a sound because its mouth had been muzzled shut by several tough, sticky lines.

Ross growled in anger. "You son of a-"

"Better withdraw your Pokémon, hadn't you." Joe interrupted smoothly. "It might suffocate if you leave it." He hadn't considered that might happen before ordering the attack, and he deeply hoped it wouldn't.

"No way, José!" Ross snarled. "I'm not letting you win that easily!" He cupped his hands around his mouth and began shouting. "Come on, Nettle! Break free! Get them!"

The purple rabbit could no longer move. The silk strands had hardened and left it trapped inside a pale yellow cocoon. Its pointed nose poked out through the end, twitching slightly. Apparently this was the most it could do to fight back.

Joe sighed, letting his muscles relax. Somehow he had gotten through that fight. It wasn't purely thanks to him, however. He looked down at the weedle in his care, and it looked back up at him. Though it had no visible mouth, he could tell just by its eyes that it was smiling. That same pride he had felt in his heart was now visible on its tiny round face, and Joe suspected that it was also showing on his own features.

"Damn it, Ross!" Rita exclaimed, having just noticed the mess left on their side of the clearing. "You let a worm beat you! A goddamn worm!"

"It's not my fault!" Ross insisted defensively. "He tricked me into thinking it was useless."

"Stop making excuses and break Nettle out!" The older, blue haired girl snapped. Ross had no further retorts after that. Instead he did as he was told and started trying to break his Pokémon out of its silky cocoon.

"Great work!" Winter called across the clearing. Joe flinched a little. Those words had thus far been said in mockery. This time however she was being genuine. He glanced across at her, and to his astonishment he saw her smile. Not a cunning smile or a mocking smile or an angry smile. Just a normal, friendly smile.

Then Ralph was thrown through the air between them.

The happy moment was over, and Joe was reminded that his companion was in danger of having his wings ribbed of by a four-armed shapeshifter. Though Ralph didn't seem especially hurt it was clear that he was tiring out. Being thrown around had sapped him of his strength and sense of balance. He was left trying to fly upside down, and that only resulted in him landing face first into the ground.

"I really don't like battle that much, honest." Frank mumbled apologetically as he stomped with his new body towards the grounded crobat. "But it's my job, you see, and you've got to try and enjoy your job."

He kicked Ralph in the head, sending him rolling backwards into the trunk of an old oak tree.

"Ralph!" Joe exclaimed upon seeing his companion being hurt. Ralph seemed to still be conscious, but there were a few bruises forming on his body and his wings were slightly folded with exhaustion. Though his crobat had been able to hold out against its opponent for a while, the difference in physical strength was now overwhelming him.

Joe ran across the grass to Ralph's side, skidding the last metre on his knees. He attempted to lift him to his feet, but his companion's body was badly bruised, more so than he had been when Joe had fallen onto him. He knew that if he wasn't careful he would only make his injuries worse. Ralph squinted at him in pain, and squeaked out a small _'Cro' _as his friend tried to help him. His eyes slowly looked past Joe to the looming false-machamp that had hurt it.

"Don't look at me like that." Frank complained. "I already said I don't enjoy this."

"Then stop!" Joe snapped back.

Frank's face contorted with thought for a moment. He make a sideways glance at Ross and Rita, his two trainers, before responding. "Can't do that. I've got a job to do." He then added in a more sympathetic voice, "Sorry."

Even if his apologies were genuine, they didn't do Joe or Ralph or Winter any good. The fact of the matter was that no matter how much this shape shifting creature regretted its actions, it was still their enemy.

"Winter-" Joe began. He hoped that his one human companion might be able to help him in his fight with the ditto-turned-wrestler. However, when he glanced across at her and Poole, he saw that they had their own problems. The blue nidoran was still conscious and still putting up a fight. Poole was having to use his large hands to push it back at it made attempt after attempt to stab him with its poisonous horn. She didn't have to shout at him about it. He knew that she couldn't help him in this. He had to win this battle himself.

He felt something crawl up his leg, and looked down to see his weedle hanging onto his trousers by its many stumpy legs. It looked at Ralph over Joe's knee, with nervousness but also with concern. It seemed that now this little bug Pokémon was starting to get attached to its new trainer, and was perhaps looking for a way to help out. Sadly there was nothing it could do to help Ralph at that moment. Joe was pretty certain it couldn't do anything to heal him. Ralph looked back at it. He made a small crowing sound, possibly trying to tell it something, but sadly Joe couldn't understand what he had said. The weedle squeaked something back in its gentle, bubbling buzz. The two Pokémon were having a conversation. Joe felt a bit left out because of the language barrier.

Weedle crawled across Joe's lap, hopped across onto Ralph's body, and sat in front of his face. Ralph didn't seem at all bothered to have a small worm lying so close to his face. Only a little while ago the thing had landed on Joe's face, and his reaction had been a lot more dramatic. Ralph grunted something, and the weedle suddenly looked surprised. It squeaked back, and Ralph nodded in response.

"What's going on?" Joe whispered, but neither Pokémon tried to answer him. They continued to talk, and the more that was said the more their expressions changed. Ralph's gaze took on a stoic and defiant expression, while the weedle seemed nervous but also impressed. It suddenly struck Joe that they were in fact planning something. He couldn't tell what, but it was most likely to do with their remaining, overwhelming opponent.

"I'll make this quick!" Frank exclaimed, finally reaching the new trainer and his two Pokémon. He lifted his right leg up and let his foot hover in the air for a moment.

Joe turned on him, giving him a defiant look. "I won't let you hurt Ralph anymore!" He exclaimed. He held his right arm out across Ralph's body, in a desperate attempt to protect him.

Frank's brown wrinkled. "Come on, kid. Don't make me hurt you too." Joe didn't move. "I'll do it!" Frank warned him. "I'll step on you if I have too. I'll crush you without a second thoughts. Now, either move or surrender!"

Joe did neither. He stayed kneeling there, trying to protect his Pokémon. It wasn't just Ralph that would be hurt by the ditto's attack. If it didn't move, his weedle would also be squashed. Joe could have tried to move it, but he didn't want to damage its newly developed confidence. It was choosing to stay sat there on Ralph's body, turned to face the attacking shapeshifter, glaring at it was narrowed black bead eyes. He doubted he could move Ralph in time, but he could certainly grabble the little hairy worm and pull it away before the attack connected. It would not thank him for doing so, though. The connection he had just made with it would instantly be broken, and their developing relationship would be back at square one. He had to choose between letting his Pokémon be hurt and directly damaging their newly formed relationship, and he was finding it impossible to decide.

Instead Ralph decided for him. His left wing gently pushed Joe's arm away. The young trainer looked at the collapsed crobat, confused. That action had not been an accidental stretch or spasm. Ralph was trying to move him out of the way. Why? What were his Pokémon planning? Joe couldn't just let them get hurt, but he also couldn't stop them from being hurt. They seemed content to sit in the shadow of their approaching doom.

"No!" Joe exclaimed, making one final, desperate attempt to protect them. Ralph's wing shoved him backwards this time, using all of his remaining strength to shove him back onto the grassy ground. Joe stared at him. Ralph looked back. He wasn't scared or angry at his trainer. Instead his expression showed only a certain confidence. He wasn't worried about the approaching attacker. He wasn't worried about being hurt.

His eyes turned back around, just as Frank began to lower his outstretched leg downward.

"Let's end this!" The ditto exclaimed. It kicked downwards, letting its muscular leg descend towards the two Pokémon. They waited for it, not afraid but defiant.

Joe could only watch in horror as the attack struck.

Then Frank suddenly let out a loud, painful yelp. He jumped backwards, gripping his foot with two of his four massive hands. He hopped around across the field, yelling and gripping his raised limb.

"My foot!" He kept shouting. "My foot! It stings! It stings!"

Joe stared in confusion at the shapeshifting Pokémon. As it hopped around it lost its balance and fell onto its behind. Only when it was on the ground could Joe see what was bothering it. In the bottom of its clenched foot was a small puncture mark, outlined with bubbling purple liquid. Joe recognised the injury. One of the Beedrill had left a similar injury on his chest when it stung him. It only took a moment for him to realise what had done this. He turned back around and saw that Ralph and the weedle were still lying against the tree, untouched by their assailant. The attack hadn't connected. The weedle's head was raised high, the thick, sharp stinger glistening in the sparse sunlight, and from its tip escaped a small dribble of poisonous fluid.

Had this been their plan the whole time? Joe had never expected such a creative strategy from the little worm and the four-winger bat. He had thought they would both be crushed, and that he would have to rush them both back to the Viridian Pokémon Centre. Instead they had won the battle by themselves, and he was astounded, impressed and even a little inspired.

"Guys, I don't feel so good!" The now mutating Frank declared, stumbling backwards as he lost all sensation in his legs. He swayed from side to side, his four arms flailing and shrinking into his torso. It was disturbing to see a large muscular humanoid melt back into a squishy pink jelly. At the final stage of his transformation the ditto's false form appeared to collapse in on itself like a dying star. After that all that remained was the small splat of sentient sludge, who was gibbering deliriously and foaming from his narrow mouth. "I'm gonna... take... a quick... nap..."

Three seconds later they could hear strained snoring coming from the direction of the unconscious ditto.

"Damn it all!" Rita screamed, tugging at her hair. "You're both absolute morons! How did you let yourselves be beaten?!"

The ditto did nothing to respond other than snooze uncomfortable in a laid out splat upon the ground. Ross, however, was more defensive about his loss.

"I didn't know this kid had a badass weedle, alright?" He snapped back.

"The fact you called that thing _badass_ proves you're an idiot!" Rita continued to scold him. "Do I have to do everything for you two?"

Barely a moment after finishing her sentence the light blue rabbit Pokémon went flying past the back of her turned head. When she turned back around, appropriately startled, she saw it roll its last few centimetres along the ground and finally stop between two leaning trees. Her once authoritative and stern personality was now quickly washing away.

"Look at that! A solid 23 feet!" Winter declared, giving her bipedal blue frog companion a high-five. "If we put in a bit of training we could compete in Olympic shot put."

The so-called experienced, talented and all-round incredible trainers stared at their defeated Pokémon. After analysing the damage and quite possibly calculating the cost of repair, they shared a look with each other, then hurriedly returned their Pokémon.

"This isn't over!" Rita growled, hastily clipping her Pokémon's ball back to her belt.

"It better be." Winter said back. Her voice was gentle but the threat was evident in the slight sinister smile on her lips.

"Grab Frank, we're going."

Ross did as he was told. He scooped the sludgy ditto up in his arms. Surprisingly he remained in one gelatinous piece, none of him making an escape in small segments towards the ground.

"Did I win...?" Frank asked, purple bubbles escaping from his mouth.

"No, buddy..." Ross murmured. He gave a glance back at Winter, Joe and Ralph, his brow narrowed in anger. "...but we'll get them next time!"

And will little more than a pathetic angry glance back at their opponents, the indomitable Team Ace disappeared into the forest.

"What was that all about?" Winter said aloud after a few seconds had passed.

Joe shrugged. Why was she asking him? If she didn't know then he certainly wouldn't.

"_Cro_?" Ralph said with similar bafflement.

"I dunno what kind of stick was up their ass..." Winter declaring, a small smile forming once more upon her lips. "...but hey, it gave you your first experience of a real battle."

"I thought that fight with Joey was my first real battle?"

Winter waved a finger. "That was just the basics." She explained. "This was the advanced class."

The two teenagers and their Pokémon stood for a moment in contemplative silence.

"I have a horrible feeling we'll see them again." Winter continued in a despairing murmur.

Though Joe didn't want to admit it, he had exactly the same feeling. "Yeah." He groaned.

There was a soft burping sound from somewhere near his foot. He looked down. The little weedle was hiccupping, a small thread of pale string leaking from its nose.

"Have you thought of a name for it yet?" Winter asked, her curious tone arising once again.

Joe looked from her to the little worm Pokémon. He couldn't deny that his experience fighting with the tiny creature had given him an attachment to it. Even though it was such a small, frail looking thing, it had a lot of personality and an impressive amount of guile as well. He still wasn't exactly keen to capture and collect every Pokémon he came across, but perhaps this one he could hold on to. It wouldn't be so bad. It didn't appear to need much care or attention, and it was hardly big enough to cause too much trouble at home. He doubted his uncle would discourage him from keeping this weedle as a pet, in fact he'd probably encourage it. The part that he disliked most was the idea of taking this creature out of its natural environment, but that would only be a problem if it didn't want to go with him. It had been hostile at first, but by the end of their battle the little worm had been obeying his orders without defiance. It was even taking its own actions to win the fight without Joe's encouragement. Perhaps if he were to ask it if it wanted to stay with him it would say yes. Surprisingly that thought made him happy.

If this thing was going to stay with him he would have to give it a name. If he was to keep it he couldn't just call it Weedle all the time. Joe had never really had any experience in naming Pokémon, or anything else for that matter. Uncle Walker had helped him name Blitz, and Joe didn't really count that as his decision since his uncle had been the one to suggest that name. This time Joe would have to think of something himself. But what to pick? He would have to call its name aloud, so he couldn't pick anything too silly or embarrassing or rude. Perhaps he could name it after an aspect of its personality, or a part of its biology. His attention was drawn straight to the barbs on its head and tail tip and the words that Frank had been shouting before he collapsed echoed through Joe's head. The name immediately came to him.

"I'll name him Sting." He declared.

Winter nodded approvingly "Sting. I like it. It's catchy, easily recognisable and rather fun to say." She pointed down at the weedle. "So, you're going to keep it then?"

Joe nodded. "Yeah."

The weedle, now named Sting, sharply looked up at him. Its tiny dot eyes were wide and watery. It seemed to be happy about this, perhaps even excited.

"That is... if it wants to come with me." Joe added, and knelt down beside the tiny creature. "Do you?"

The weedle immediately reared and began nodding its circular head. It warbled through its bulbous nose and hopped from one row of feet to the other. Assumedly that constituted as a yes.

Joe felt the smile grow upon his face, felt the warmth in his cheeks. He had never imagined he would be so happy to own a Pokémon. Why was he happy? He would be taking a living creature away from its natural environment. He had always thought of that as wrong. That was the kind of thing criminals in the past had done. How was this different? Only now did his heart start to understand the difference. They had taken Pokémon by force, without consent, not just from the wilds but in some cases from other people. He, however, had befriended this little wormy creature. He had gotten to know it through this experience, come to like it, to trust it. Likewise it had come to trust him. He had asked it if it wanted to travel with him, and it had said yes. Perhaps it was okay to take this wild animal with him if it wanted to go.

He held out a hand and the weedle crawled onto it. Joe stroked it gently with his thumb, avoiding the poisonous barbs. He could feel its hairs sliding against his skin, and it's tough yet slippery skin beneath. It was surprisingly cute for an insect.

So now Sting was his first caught Pokémon, and perhaps after he had passed Ralph off to whoever he was meeting in Pewter City he would try and befriend a few others.

Sting hiccupped again, and this time a globule the size of Joe's thumb was shot out of its nose. Joe looked at it, and despite his disgust he chuckled slightly. "Looks like we should take you to a nurse, get that sorted out."

The hairy worm Pokémon nodded... and then threw up another clump of string. Then it threw up again. Within a matter of moments Joe's hand was covered in the sticky strands. The weedle was expelling masses of the stuff now, so much that it coated Joe's entire hand and even started to surround the weedle itself.

"What's happening?!" Joe exclaimed in sudden alarm. He had never seen anything like this happen before. With each passing second the string was building up around the little creature, covering and consuming it. "Winter, what should I do?"

He looked across at his human companion, terrified for the creature that he held in his hand. He stared at her pleadingly, desperate to know what he had to do to help.

Winter only smiled back at him. She looked proud. Why was she proud? Was she happy that his Pokémon was dying?

"Stop standing there and help me!" Joe yelled at her. "Sting's going to suffocate!"

"He won't suffocate." She said calmly.

Joe looked at her with a much less calm expression. "What?"

"He's forming a cocoon." She explained. "I've never actually seen it in person."

Joe turned from her to the silk-wrapped weedle in his silk-covered hand. "Why is he doing that?" He asked.

"Because he's ready to evolve." Winter continued.

Joe blinked. "Evolve?" He repeated. "But... I've only had him for a minute. How is he ready to evolve already?"

"I told you earlier, bug Pokémon evolve quickly." She reminded him. "He must have gotten a lot of experience from that battle just now. At this rate you'll have yourself a Beedrill by tomorrow morning."

That was a terrifying prospect, but what was currently more terrifying was the taught that his pokémon was not actually evolving but instead throwing ups its insides, becoming wrapped up in them and chocking to death inside its own cocoon. Joe couldn't shake that fear. He felt a desperate urge to try and pull the string away, to try and break Sting free. But as each second passed more and more string was wrapping around him, growing upwards above its body and taking shape. It was starting to look like a cocoon now, but still Joe couldn't shake his fear.

He made an attempt to pull the string away and break the cocoon, but Winter quickly grabbed his hand and yanked it back. "Don't!" She exclaimed. "You'll hurt him!"

"How do I know this isn't hurting him?" Joe said, trying to control his panic yet also struggling in her grip.

"Just trust me." She said, with a voice that was unusually kind for her. "Wait and see."

Despite the screaming of his instincts, Joe did as she suggested and refrained from trying to free his Pokémon. It was difficult, knowing that all of this string was coming from Sting's mouth, and making the logical assumption that if it was spewing out all of this string continuously it probably wasn't breathing at the same time. However, it turned out that Winter was right. When the string did eventually stop forming the strands that had been created had formed a cocoon on the palm of Joe's hand. It was about twice the size of the pokemon that had created it, and as it sat in the cool open air it began to harden. The pale colouring started to turn a darker yellow shade.

"There, you see." Winter reassured him. "I told you it was nothing to worry about. Now you've got a nice, newly evolved Kakuna to add to your team."

"Kakuna?" Joe repeated, a little behind due to astonishment. He had never seen a Pokémon evolve in person. There was a greater amount of bodily substances than he'd imagined.

The hard carapace appeared to hear him say its name, as the dome-like body segment at the top of the cocoon began to twitch. A pair of symmetrical triangular dents began to crack and break apart. As the shell that covered them broke and flaked away two black eyes pushed their way out and peered through at the world beyond. These new eyes stared up at Joe, and though they belonged to an insect there was a distinguishable glimmer of warmth in them.

_"Ka"_ It creaked.

It was most definitely the same creature, even though it now looked a lot different to the little worm that had landed on his face only a half hour ago. Joe may not have wanted nor prepared to catch a pokémon on his journey, but he felt a definite swelling of pride in his heart, not just in himself but in his newest team member, his first caught Pokémon.

_"Cro-bat!" _Ralph muttered over Joe's shoulder.

"Once you're done awing over your new buddy..." Winter interrupted, the sound of a Poké Ball snapping shut punctuating the pause between her comments, "...we should keep moving onward to Pewter."

The memory of his task took precedence over the miraculous act of nature he had just beheld. Joe nodded back at her and reached for the red Poké Ball upon his belt. He returned his newly evolved Kakuna, who no longer argued or complained about being owned. He seemed quite happy to return into the small red and white ball.

"How much further do we have to go?" Joe asked as he clipped the ball back onto his belt.

"There's still a bit further to go." Winter muttered, placing her open palm above her eyes as she peered ahead into the woods. "Maybe a couple of hours more walking. We should reach the edge of the forest by evening."

"Okay then." Joe hitched his backpack up by the straps and walked forwards, a newly found eagerness awakening in him. "What are we standing around for then? Let's get going!"

Perhaps when this task was over he would reconsider his decision to return home. Once he had taken Ralph the Professor's friend in Pewter City and parted ways with Winter in Cerulean, perhaps he would continue to travel. Perhaps he would become a proper Pokémon trainer. He still wasn't certain that he wanted that sort of a life, but the events that had passed so far that day had made him wonder.

Firstly, however, he had to find his way out of this damn forest.


End file.
